Funny how the public critics aren’t on the task force

For weeks, Albany errupted with howls of protest.  The sign ordinance hit businesses as varied as Harvest Moon and Pier One.  They argued that the sign ordinance was killing their business, and they were right.  Code Enforcement was lining up for the kill, or so it seemed, and now the Albany economy was going to take the hit.

Everywhere you looked, Albany just didn’t look right.  Used car dealerships looked more like parking lots without their almost trademark-like banners and flags flapping in the early summer breeze.  Pier One didn’t seem to be advertising a single deal, quite unusual for that chain.  It just wasn’t natural.

So, the City Commission voted on July 7th to revisit the sign ordinance.  They had met with local business owners almost a week earlier and nearly all of them expressed extreme displeasure with the ordinance as it stood.  Polls on WALB’s website indicated that a majority of Albanians as a whole stood against it as well.  All was right with the world…or so it seemed.

Now, we know the make-up of the task force.  There are some familiar names on there, such as Keep Albany-Dougherty Beautiful’s own Judy Bowles and Code Enforcement’s Mike Tilson (who is also co-chair for some reason).  In addition, there seems to be a profound lack of community members and small business owners listed.  Wasn’t that one of the key ingredients that was being called for?

Now, I was very vocal in my criticisms of the sign ordinance, as were a lot of other people.  However, I’m not a pure obstructionist.  I had contacted my Commissioner, who has read this blog and knows my views on the sign ordinance, and offered my services to the task force, such as they were.  I’m really not at all surprised that I wasn’t asked to be part of it.  However, there are other members of the community who aren’t that I believe should have been.

You see, people like myself, rock the boat.  I don’t want any sign ordinance at all, so I can see why I got left out.  However, Bo Henry became the poster boy for the anti-sign ordinance movement.  People rallied around Bo like he were the local messiah, and they were ready to fight for him against the sign ordinance.  All this, and he’s not on the task force.  Roger Marietta wanted him on there, but alas…no Bo.

None of the people listed as being part of the task force are among those who were critical publicly of the previous version so far as I can tell.  Why would that be?  It’s possible that the City Commission is dead set that we <em>must</em> have a sign ordinance and looked for folks who would willingly serve and wouldn’t impede the process.  However, I think it’s more likely that those who were critical might object to the new ordinance as much, and that “obstruction” would definitely come about.  What got missed is that obstruction wouldn’t be a bug, but a feature.

With all the problems we have in this town, protecting us from the “horrors of sign blight” just isn’t that big a deal.  Personally, I want businesses to be able to use whatever tool they need to keep going.  Signs aren’t the problem with this town…it’s the people running it.