Tuesday, May 27, 2014

Guerilla street-spam fighter

On 17 April 2013, I requested from my local municipal councillor, Frances Nunziata, that some street-spam be removed from my residential neighbourhood. The councillor's administrative assistant, Ji Na Park, said they would refer my complaint to the Municipal Licensing and Standards department. "The signs are removed from the posts and the companies are contacted to be advised that this should not continue."

On 2 May 2013, I asked: "What I would like to know now is what sort of time-frame I should expect for your implied action to take place (if, that is, it will ever take place), since two weeks has proven insufficient for it. Perhaps you were mistaken in thinking that the Municipal Licensing and Standards department actually does this." Ji Na replied: "We apologize for the delay. As the signs are considered non-urgent, they are classified as non-priority and may take a number of weeks."

Two days later I removed 30 of the signs myself. I informed the councillor's office but added: "There were three signs that I have been unable to remove because they were too high up, and seriously bolted into the telephone poles (not just nailed)... May I have the city's co-operation in having these three signs removed?" Ji Na's 7 May 2013 reply: "We have reported in the 3 signs to Municipal Licensing and Standards for removal. Please let us know when you see improvements. As it is peak season, there will likely be more signs going up in the future. We will try and get them removed as soon as possible."

Today, after 55 weeks of waiting, I asked Catherine's brother (here for a few hours en route to England, leaving his truck in our yard) to help transport a ladder to the crime scenes. In the photo you see me, utility knife in hand, evaluating the job to be done:

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