Anyone who read my horse manure in the streets notes in my Myspace.com blog in May, where from May 5, to May 15, or longer, but I quit looking, counting, or bothering to put the reports in the utility bill slot to address this, knows that the Modesto City Police Dept. fields anywhere from 13 to 19 squad cars, the police prisoner transport wagon, and 2 to 4 horse mounted police, .........

evidently not only for crowd control, but public relations considerations that this out in force, in riot gear, for what seem to me, usually pretty well behaved crowds, such as they are in Modesto, only seen 2 arrested at one time, plus all that private security at the clubs, seems over the top, discourages crowds and patrons, and

leaves piles of dung, usually in front of Fat Cat, or Tresetti's, sometimes on 10th Street, and you have to navigate across the street through it in the cross walks, that night when its fresh if cops not in way, or in the morning, when a bit more ripe, while on way to ,,,,,it is also a restaurant district, so I did a more conventional protest, emailed the City Council member from the City of Modesto Web site. Here is the reply from civic officials, and ..

the cops have asked that all the parking fee revenue from the parking lot across from Fat Cat be diverted to paying for this show of force, complete with horse shit, such you would think they could afford a few pennies, for the shovels, and community service officer rookies to clean the piles up, as the street sweepers often miss it, so we escape the still in the barn, old boy ag mentality, in what we hope develops into a pretty good Bistro district, sans e coli.

Mr. Christiansen,

Thank you for your supportive comments, Mr. Christiansen. I will ask
about the horse manure. I've never noticed it before, but I can imagine
the deterrent it would be to downtown patrons. I agree with you,
however, that the equestrian unit is an important aspect of downtown
police work.

Kristin Olsen (Modesto city council member

>>> "James Christiansen" 07/19/06 8:56 AM >>>

Dear City Council Member Olsen.

Thank you for your efforts on the Pelandale roadway with ammenities, as
a way of presenting a nicer, better Modesto for business and residents.
This is somewhat similar to other efforts in the past, to clean the
litter from the Roadways, enforce landscaping requirements, and I think
it is needed.

I have a particular beef, closer to 1010 Tenth Street, caused by use of
the horse mounted police for crowd control patrol. After the patrol has
been used in the Entertainment District, which is also the downtown
lunch and eating area for county and city and downtown patrons, as well
as for those who hit Fat Cat or Tresetti's at night, you can tell. Our
visitors from Double Tree Inn, or venturing beyond Brendan's likely to
walk into this item, the horse manure left behind, which stays for days
on the Street.

I've sent in usually rather in unconventional report to the council by
way of mail slot for bills, with the noted time and date it takes to
clean up the horse droppings, as long as ten days, this does not always
get done by street sweeping, and often in the sidewalk area median
between Fat Cat and the parking garage, or along the gutters on 11th or
Twelfth, or recently between crosswalks at 1010 Tenth Street.

Much as I complain of the number of units in the area for this duty, I
like the idea and public relations of the horse patrol, and they could
be friendlier. But I do eat at some of the restaurants down there, and
yesterday's pile of horse manure as I navigate downtown near the
restaurants, is a turn off, and I"ve noticed its not just driven
through, due to traffic, and patrol often stationed at the cross walk
areas, some have walked through it, likely a possible health hazard,
tracked into one of the venues.

I'm working on being more formal, less mental health client advocate, in
making requests of the council. I sent a letter on this topic to
Modesto Bee, but after reading the story featuring your clean up and
public relations effort this morning, thought I would address you as the
Council person most likely on top of the public relations of what
shouldn't be too big a clean up issue to include in the Police patrol
downtown.

Jim Chrsitiansen
Modesto, CA

I walk downtown, usually mornings, sometimes in evening.