Sometimes the lunacy of local government jumps out like an Arron Judge 500-foot home run. It happened again during the November 15th city council meeting.
Watch and listen to Naperville councilman Paul Hinterlong as he addresses the issue of too many signs in an area that shouldn’t have signs and the solution presented by Bill Novack, Director of TED (Transportation, Engineering, and Development) is to place signs in the area stating ‘no signs allowed’:
What’s amazing isn’t that the solution to the problem is counter-productive, it’s the fact that not one member of the city council questioned the lunacy of the solution. Everybody jumped on board without saying ‘let’s think about this first’. One might understand if the evening was late, or the meeting was long, but the meeting lasted only 42 minutes. It probably took more time to get to the meeting than being at the meeting.
Maybe they wanted to rush home in time to see former President Donald Trump live announce his decision to run for re-election. I doubt any would admit to that, even those supporting “Make America Great Again”. If you’re not in favor of making America great again, then what do you want….Make America Slightly Better Than Average?
Let’s see if the topic of signs resurfaces again at a future council meeting, and if so, will they still support the lunacy of the idea. My guess is they absolutely will.
Signs, signs, everywhere.
The sign problem is not only a major issue, it is growing each election cycle. People are putting signs in parkways and other areas were signs are prohibited by city ordinance. The question of how to deal with this problem is only natural.
Is putting up a sign saying no signs really counter intuitive or productive? Lets look at the alternatives.
The first, and most obvious, is to have city workers going around town removing these signs. I think we can all agree this is a non-starter. The cost of doing this would be thousands of times more expensive then putting up signs.
The next step is to fine the property owners responsible for maintaining these properties, for any sign found on them. Yes, according to city ordinance the parkway bordering you property is you responsibility to maintain and failure to do so can result in city government action against you. This means signs placed in the parkway bordering your property are legally your responsibility to take down and dispose of. Again, I think we can agree this solution would not fly either.
So that leaves tracking down the sign owner and taking action against them. How many man-hours do you think the city would end up spending on doing this? My guess, again, a lot more then the cost of putting up signs.
I believe a sign placed stating it is illegal to put signs in an area that also states the hundreds of dollars in fines that can be charge any person or organization who’s sign is found in the area, would be a very effective deterrent to the placement of these signs. Will some signs still show-up? No doubt they will, but in fewer numbers. Especially once the city starts issuing citation for each violation. The word will spread quickly to stop.
Free speech is great, but putting a sign on any property, without permission, is not an exercise of free speech, it is a violation of someones property rights. I am responsible for one of these properties were signs are always popping up, and it is a pain to constantly have to remove and dispose of these signs. Signs placed without the common courtesy of asking first.
Do I support this “counter-productive” proposal? Yes, I do!!!
Perhaps a designated area just for signs would attract other signs? This way they can congregate together. Remember there are regulations on the size of signs, brightness of signs and now where signs can go. More regulation, more control!
Sealed plea deals are nothing new. They happen all the time, for a variety of reasons. If you truly believe there is something important for the citizens of Naperville to be aware of in this plea deal all you have to do is hire an attorney and have them petition the court to authorize this plea deal be unsealed. Yes, it will cost you some money, but if you believe your cause is just this shouldn’t be a problem for you.