Longtime resident and former mayor Rudy Piltch caused a bit of an uproar this week when he learned that an Avalon resident would soon face charges in court for feeding the wild with potential fines of $10,000.00.
In addition to starting a public advocacy campaign (see letter to the editor), Piltch appealed to the Avalon city council on Tuesday.
Mayor Anni Marshall read Piltch’s letter in open session and she attempted to find out if Friday’s scheduled court session in Avalon included the deer feeding citation.
“This really bothers me,” said Piltch, calling on the Santa Catalina Island conservancy and the California Department of Fish and Wildlife to meet and “find a solution.”
Deer often wander the island’s interior into Avalon while many residents have an affinity for them, said Piltch. Often the deer look a bit straggly and appear to be hungry, he said, and residents sometimes do feed them so that the deer do not eat the plants in their yards.
“Who is really responsible,” asked Piltch at the council meeting? “I would like to see the Conservancy and Fish and Game work together to find a solution,” he said.
The community can help, he said, but these two agencies should craft a solution, he said.
The Islander reached out both agencies for a comment but have not heard back before press time.
