Developers looking for ways to reduce crime in Sacramento's alleys have grabbed onto an idea that will draw mounted police. That idea is to provide places where horses can get water and hitch up securely for short periods. While that conjures up Old West visions of water troughs and hitching posts for many, — including developers who described them as such — the reality may be much more 21st century. An ideal way to provide water would be a small fountain or water feature such as the small N... Suzanne Dale Kooyman comment-17719 2009-11-13T17:08:30Z 2009-11-13T17:08:30Z So the troughs are going to be fountains. That could be an improvement and that answers some of the questions I asked in the first article but the Sgt. has not answered others. I presume he didn't read them. Or the reporter didn't ask them or thought he had answered them when he did not. Many of us do not know what the "drum fountain" at City Hall looks like. A photo would have been helpful. I enter from H Street when I go there. Is the fountain inside? Outside on the south? Does that type of fountain preclude misbehavior and vandalism that I asked about? Lighting alleys is a very good idea--horses or no horses--but it would be extremely expensive since a type of trenching would be needed. Who would pay for that?Some alleys are concrete, some asphalt and some gravel, dirt and grass/weeds. Before our alleys are lighted more than they are now (several have overhead SMUD cobra type lights), I would prefer to see our streets lighted, but council has not been very supportive of that in the past for the central city and PD wasn't much help either when such lighting was much cheaper than it is now. How will PD handle the speeding problems in alleys which will increase with the perception of safety to drive faster since PD ignores speeders now--even on streets? A number of residents have asked in the past that speed lumps (not bumps or humps) be installed but Fire Dept has always objected to those in the central city alleys. Every other neighborhood can have them wherever they want them but not the central city per FD. I'm not necessarily opposed to this, but I don't have the confidence that the pros and cons have been identified, the cons effectively answered and no residents, who have the most knowledge, have been contacted to be part of the planning process. Hey, someone out there! People live here and along alleys. Why must we learn of this from sacpress instead of holding some public meetings or presenting the ideas at the Neighborhood Advisory Group? Of course, we know that the Kerridge/Thomas disaster team has a long standing policy not to involve residents because they think that city management and their staff know what is best for us . So it is a bit naive of me to think that such a think might happen in this case. Dale Kooyman 2009-11-13T17:08:30Z The Parrhesiac comment-17712 2009-11-13T11:43:49Z 2009-11-13T11:43:49Z Asinine idea The Parrhesiac 2009-11-13T11:43:49Z