I wish Fort Wayne had solved all its problems the way Jeffersonville has solved its, so that we, too, could worry about important things like aesthetics. About a month ago, I did a post about Peggy Duffy of that city, who heads some citizens group called City Pride. She was haranguing the City Council about newspaper and advertising boxes. Arguing that a "uniform look" is an important goal, she actually said this, which became one of my favorite quotes of 2009: "Obsessive signage is not conducive to an aesthetically pleasing atmosphere."
Well, Peggy is at it again. This time, she was speaking in favor of an ordinance eventually passed by the council mandating that advertising benches be the same size, shape and color as those placed across the city by the administration, that only one advertising bench be placed next to each city bench and that the advertising be no lareger than the area where the words "city of Jeffersonville" appear on city benches. Whew! That's a lot of bench regoolatin' there, but not too much for Peggy:
On the other side of the issue, Peggy Duffy, who heads the beautification committee City Pride said she supported the ordinance because “clutter is not aesthetically pleasing.”
And, she said, uncontrolled signage is not conducive to economic development.
Can't say she isn't focused and doesn't know her mind, eh? The attorney who drafted the ordinance noted that the government is not in any way "infringing on an individual's commercial free speech." It's merely "providing parameters" for doing so. What a helpful government. I could use a few parameters for the clutter in my life, too.
