Propaganda

SocioSam, don't preach to us about negative discourse. You are the source of more negativity in this city than we've seen for years. Strathmoor Village has been an extremely friendly place for its entire existence until this new mayor was elected and people like you started trying to force your opinions on us. I checked out your site, and it is nothing more than propaganda supporting your own views. Just because you put pictures of the picnic on there doesn't make it a positive site. There is no ''hateful spiteful discourse,'' because you do all the posts and don't allow anyone who disagrees with you to post. The fact is, your site and your posts here are full of unsupported opinions that you try to pass off as fact. How do we know that the pics of yards you claim to be Strathmoor Village officials are indeed their actual yards? In fact, the only one that can be positively identified doesn't even belong to the person you say it does. It's a completely different yard. That is a verifiable FACT ... something you don't seem to understand. I have yet to see you back up any of your statements with proof of any kind. So get off your high horse. And you'd better be careful about publishing false information about people on your website. We have a little thing in this country called slander. You are dangerously close to it.

By Grass Lover

Time to call a spade a spade...

T Brooks, I appreciate your statement that ''no one should be laughed out of the neighborhood'' but our paths diverge there, and I have seen enough of your renewed vitriol in these ''community link'' (interesting words) pages.
You once claimed that Marilyn Leicht started this by asking your opinion. You know better. The harrassment of the last year and a half was not started by a neighbor asking an opinion, but rather by a ''neighbor'' choosing to bully a city into following their opinion.
No one has tried to force anyone to plant gardens they don't want. In contrast, you and the other neighborhood bully have tried to deny residents any individual freedom regarding plants in an area too often full of weeds being passed off as a lawn. This does not date to a recent article you reference, it goes back a year and a half. A year an a half of attacks on neighbors whose property isn't even next to yours or that of your partner in this campaign. A year and a half of two bullies refusing to accept denial of their rants by the Board. (It was not a gardener who stomped out of the July 2006 meeting screaming, ''You can all go to hell in a hand cart!'') You claim you have been denied a voice in city meetings, yet your demands are referenced in the Minutes, which is more than can be said for most opposing you. A year and a half of Commissioners being confronted even at their private residences with demands for Strathmoor Village to revolve around the myopic views of two people until the Board finally capitulated in June despite the knowledge that more residents who attended meetings opposed your views than supported them. We all know how the past couple of months have played out. We all know the groundswell of discontent you started that culminated in some 50 people attending August's meeting to oppose the ordinance you demanded. Only three were allowed to speak. Not even three could be found to speak in support of your restrictive view. Those who did speak for your side apologized for the attacks. Now the Board has adopted language based not on personal taste and disdain for diversity but on safety, not on racial slurs and insults but on measurable factors like drainage impact on adjacent lots. They have heeded legal advice and adopted standards in keeping with those of Metro Louisville. Strathmoor Village was diverse in its design and should continue to be so. It will never be a bland, homogenous development. Those who want that should not buy houses here. Each home here is unique, and that diversity creates consistent charm. Please stop trying to convince anyone that this did not begin with you.

walk down 2300 Block

I just took my nightly walk & wanted to comment on how great Mark & Karen's yard looks. As I have done 100s of times before, I walked on the side opposite---it's a MUST DO for all residents. Since we've lived here for 8 years now, M&K are the 3rd owners of the home. Cheryl Case (news celeb) was a great neighbor but she had 0 time to put into the home or yard. Two owners later, M&K move in and style a beautiful, one of a kind---you might say--''English'' style tudor. They have spent countless hours grooming, designing & revising the unique look appreciated by everyone who lives close enough to look at it daily. Please stroll by & see for yourself. Wise as Mark & Karen are, they sough permission for their design & from what I hear, the best is yet to come!!! Nice living by great neighbors!!!!!!!!!!!

By M Leicht

Opinion vs Fact

Dear Grass Lover,

I want to thank you for your kind comments about my site, ?“there is no ?‘hateful spiteful discourse,?’ because you [I] do all the posts.?” At the risk of contaminating my site with ?“hateful spiteful discourse?” I?’m going to give you directions on how to post a message.

I hope your handle ?“grass lover?” refers to turf grass and not that stuff some people smoke. Beware that the smoking grass can distort one?’s view of reality and can make it difficult to perform even simple tasks. That said: To post on my blog site, go below the post and see the word ?“COMMENTS?” - it is in green. Click on it and a pop-up box appears - don?’t let it scare you. Type your message - please be nice and respectful. Now scroll down until you see an orange ?“Post your comment?” button. Click it and your post will appear - I?’ll even get an email message that you posted. If you are not a registered on ?“blogspot?” you can post under ?“anonymous.?”

I also want to thank you for pointing out that I do support my claims with links to experts. But I do take issue with your confusion over the terms - opinion and fact. Here are several issues and the fact behind them that I raise in my blog.

Gasoline mowers are major polluters - this is definitely more than opinion. There have been many tests on this. Gas-powered lawn equipment emits far more pollution than automobiles. You can check this easily by Googling ?“gasoline mowers and pollution.?” Here is a url for a recent study by engineers at the University of Florida - http://news.ufl.edu/2005/03/21/mower-pollute/.

Asthma and pollution link - again this is far from opinion but documented facts by no less organizations and the Center for Disease Control (CDC) which has a page on it at http://www.cdc.gov/nceh/airpollution/default.htm. Louisville has exceptionally high asthma rates and is the number one reason Louisville?’s children miss school. I have been unable to find a single study that claims gasoline lawn equipment emissions are healthy. If you know of such ?“facts?” please share them with us.

Native flowers and plants take less water than hybrid plants and far less than turf grass which is a major ?“water hog.?” Just look at the browned out yards in the neighborhood, then walk by 2379 Gladstone (it?’s in Kingsley). That yard is vibrant and alive with native flowers. If you go at the right time, you will see 20 to 30 butterflies hoovering around his flowers. Certainly a more beautiful sight than the browned-out weed-infested lawn of turf grass in so many yard. For more information on native plants check out five links on my website - Kentucky Dan, LEO article on Rain Gardens, Louisville Air Pollution Control District, Louisville Brightside, and Rain Gardens - with a video. I?’m not able to find any articles claiming turf grass is good for the environment. Would you please post your references?

All pictures of the easements are as labeled.

While I?’m not a lawyer, I checked with my better half who is. My web postings (or yours) are not subject to slander laws. For something to be slander it must be communicated orally. That is a fact, not an opinion.

Your truly,
SocioSam