Two very important matters are being presented before the Appleton Common Council this Wednesday (December 18) at 7pm. One of them concerns the possible ban of dogs and other pets from public events such as Octoberfest and the Christmas and Flag Day parades. It's about damn time! Get out and let your alderperson know that they should pass this ordinance through. The other important topic concerns the planned New Year's party at City Park. The organizers of the event didn't get their request for a special event permit in until after the deadline had passed. They insist that they'll put on the event anyone and just pay the $225 fine as stipulated by city ordinance for conducting large events without obtaining a special event permit. The police department is actually supportive of this idea! Talk about hypocrisy! If you will now kindly follow me back to a post I made on September 18, 2002, you will discover that the City of Appleton shut down the entirety of Telulah Park that following Saturday because of rumors that the two men who had reserved the pavilions were going to host a rave there. The police and the city used the excuse that the men claimed only 50 attendees would come, while the police fully expected as many as 400, which would require a special event permit. Because the men hadn't acquired a special event permit, the entire park was shut down the city refunded the money to the men for booking the pavilions. Now we have an event upcoming in which the police have full knowledge that thousands of people are going to show up to an event without a special event permit and instead of shutting down the entire park they intend to continue supporting this event! Don't get me wrong - I'm happy to know that someone is trying to offer some nice family fun without alcohol involved on New Year's. My problem stands with the total hypocrisy being exhibited by the city and the police department. If this event doesn't have the proper permits, then it is the duty of the police department to once again step in and shut the event down. As even my mom said, it's not like the date of New Year's changes every year. The 45-day deadline comes on the same date every year, so they knew when they needed to have their application in, and if it wasn't in on time, too bad.