King Solomon, my ass. Here is the deal -- you don't have a plan nor a clue

At the start of the 90-minute meeting Mr. Kraus said he felt he was in a King Solomon position where the choice he would make would not make one group happy.

The tail wags the dog these days in the South Side.

Pet owners should be safe with their dogs in their back yards or else on leashes. If you want to be unsafe, then let's talk about dogs in a tiny park space without leashes.

Does dog socialization trump kid socialization?

I understand, in the world of Bruce Kraus, how he values the promotion of cats and dogs before people as they have been a 'pre-agenda' on Wednesdays at city council before citizen public comment.

The large, enclosed grass area is for kids, first. People second. Thirdly -- for other uses.

The adjacent children's playground is part of the park and not a place to confine the kids.

Mr. Kraus provided written material for the residents, explaining that it is against the law to allow dogs to run unleashed unless they are in one of four designated areas of the city: Upper Frick Park, Lower Frick Park as well as West Park and Observatory Hill on the North Side. The Frick parks both serve the Shadyside/Squirrel Hill communities. There are not designated dog parks on the south or west areas of the city. The residents at the meeting want to change that and Councilman Kraus has pledged to help although he admitted that it may be difficult to do it in a timely manner.

Mr. Kraus had no 'dog plan' when he ran for the city council seat. I've thought about this problem for a while. He is welcome to my talking points.

There is a locked park with lots of green space in the South Side. There is a stretch of land around the river's edge by the rail road tracks that can be put into use for a dog run too.

Kraus needs to think out of the box. And, he can't be expected to do that quickly. Mr. Kraus is very busy now trying to get a new governmental registry for unmarried couples. And, Mr. Kraus is slaving over the new sign ordinance plan as the six month moratorium on all new signs is getting ready to expire. Plus, Bill Peduto isn't going to be around much in the months to come to tell him what to do.

If Armstrong Park turns into a designated dog park I wonder how Mr. Kraus is going to tax the dogs.

Suitable nearby alternatives are called hamster, fish, in-house cat, backyard and leashes. Plus there is the South Side Park ice rink and river's edge dog-run.

The current park is, so they say, not conducive to ball playing. Bull shit. Err, dog shit on them. It most certainly is an ideal place for ball playing. We played and do play on those grounds in most successful ways for decades.

That field was home to a semi-pro football team.

That field was home to the biggest Rookie Ball program in the city -- for kids ages, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 and older.

When the city cut out the Rec Centers and Swim Pools -- we suffered some massive blows to our opportunities with the kids. Holding baseball practices at places where the rest rooms can't be opened sorta sucks. The pitching machine and equipment departed, to gather dust perhaps.

Then there was South High School! They used to play high school softball on that field -- without problems. Not suitable is wrong as can be.

We could let dogs to run on the lawn of South Vo Tech and the lawn of the Pgh Federations of Teachers buildings.

Mr. Ashley, who lives in one of the city�s southern neighborhoods, said that before his pet recently died, he would take his dog to run loose across town at West Park. Thank you Mr. Ashley for being the gentleman and responsible, good neighbor that you are. West Park! A good place for dogs.