Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

Beware Of Canine Criminals

Stray dogs are criminals in Gurdon.

This was announced at the regular monthly meeting of the Gurdon City Council Monday night, Aug. 10.

Gurdon Mayor Rick Smith, discussing animal control, said there are times when police officers must go on private property in pursuit of human criminals, and, in effect, the animal control ordinance the council passed makes stray dogs criminals and, thereby gives the new animal control officer the right to go on private property after an animal.

Yes, there is a new animal control officer. The council unanimously approved the hiring of Carroll Martin for the position. Smith said Martin's duties will also include maintenance at City Hall as well as animal control.

Gurdon's personnel committee met last week to review the three applications for the job and went with Martin. However, Martin also drives a bus for the Gurdon School District.

Smith, though, said this wouldn't be a problem as it is best to do the city hall work after hours when the offices are closed.

The animal control job will have some set hours as well as being on call. But, the job will be geared for 40 hours a week, with all hours over 40 being recompensed with comp time. Smith said there will be no overtime paid.

The council also spent a good deal of time discussing a proposed curfew. At the July meeting, a petition was presented to the city's governing body by Delton Simpson seeking a curfew for minors.

This issue was tabled to give the council members an opportunity to speak with their constituents.

The people Smith talked with favored the curfew, but there were few in the poll.

Glen Hughes said those he talked to were strongly against the curfew saying it would do more harm to the innocent young people than the troublemakers.

He questioned what the Gurdon Police Department would do with those children picked up when there were no adults at their homes. The city, he said, would be liable for their safety.

Hughes' game room, Frank's Place, has a lot of young people as customers. He said most of the younger patrons are gone by 11 p.m. or midnight, leaving mostly adults. A curfew, he said, would be useless as the young people are mostly gone by the time it would be in effect.

Hughes added the Gurdon Police Department has better things to do than babysit.

Gurdon City Marshal David Childres said young people can be ticketed for loitering if they are gathered around somewhere and don't leave, but few such tickets are actually written by officers.

Most of the time, he said, the young people leave an area when asked.

Childres added most of those who are out after a curfew would be in place are older than 18 and wouldn't be affected by it anyway. He also said the troublemakers don't respect anyone and wouldn't obey a curfew.

Simpson, who presented the petition in July, said the idea wasn't to hurt the children, but to help make parents aware. Since last month, he continued, more parents are checking on the whereabouts of their children after dark.

"The curfew was a way of getting people involved and keeping Gurdon a decent town," Simpson told the council. "The people need to be aware of what's going on. I will keep working with children and helping them."

Smith said the curfews imposed by surrounding towns are designed to make parents take responsibility for their children.

When a child violates the curfew, the parents are notified. However, with few people in Gurdon voicing their opinion for a curfew, the mayor recommended the issue be forgotten at this time.

If those who signed the petition feel strongly about a curfew, he said, they can address the council at the September meeting.

In other business, Smith said some equipment has been purchased for the animal control department. A catch pole, gauntlets, leashes, muzzles, gloves, vest and kevlar sleeves were bought using a purchase order. He expects the bill to be about $500.

In addition, a trailer was bought and has been repaired by the Gurdon Street Department. The department sandblasted and painted the trailer. The crew also put on a new trailer hitch, wheels, tires and installed new bearings along with lights.

There was also talk about buying a new car for the GPD. However, Smith said the city can't order a car until after the September meeting, and then the city will go through state purchasing for it.

At the July meeting, one of the vehicles was in the shop and it was feared it may have had a cracked block or cracked heads. However, it had neither and has been repaired and put back on the street.

Part of the reason the city has to wait before trying to buy a new car for the GPD is money in the 9-1-1 account was accidentally counted twice when the budget was being prepared at the first of the year and only recently caught. This means the city has about $9,000 less in its general fund than thought.

The last car bought for the police department was purchased by a local bank and leased by the city. Legally, a city can't pay interest on a lease, but auditors, when examining the bank's paperwork on the car, found Gurdon was.

It is also illegal for any city in the state to finance anything. Cities are not allowed to operate in deficit situations and must balance their budgets annually based on the revenue generated by their particular tax bases.

However, the city will look at buying a new car for the GPD. A budget committee will meet before the September council meeting to hammer out the city's funds.

Smith praised the Clark County Road Department for the work it did on rebuilding Stone Street. The street has been completed and should last the city several years.

The county also allowed the city to borrow a hydraulic side boom bushhog and operator to clear the banks of Gurdon Creek. This operation took two days with this equipment and would have taken the Gurdon Street Department more than a week using city equipment.

It is hoped, Smith said, to buy such a piece of equipment for the department in the future, if such a bushhog can be found at a reasonable price.

Talking about Rose Hedge Cemetery, Smith said a resident has offered to give the city land adjoining the cemetery. The city has done some cleaning on this property and when the deed is transferred, the street department will go in and remove stumps.

Turning the cemetery into a perpetual care facility has also been discussed by the Cemetery Commission, and anyone interested in getting involved is encouraged to do so.

Smith said money will have to be set aside in an interest bearing account with the interest used to keep the cemetery up.

The GPD has been delivering letters to residents concerning trash bins on the city's right of way.

These bins can be placed on private property, b