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I Think The Mayor Is Wrong. I am probably wrong too.
Tonight while laying in bed a headline came across my twitter feed from @lancasteronline. The post said ‘Mayor calls for anti-sticker ordinance.’ It immediately caught my attention.
My name is Tim Hoover. I’m a 26 year old. An owner of a design firm and gallery, and part of the, dare-I-say-it, ‘creative class.’ I am also a founder of WeAreLancaster.com. I am not a writer. I am the demographic that so many of our city leaders want to target. I’ve shaken hands with Rick Gray on several occasions, and he seems to be a genuinely nice guy. He has even cracked a joke at me outside of market, and it was funny. He wouldn’t know me, but I know him. I don’t dig too deep into politics, but I like the guy. I see him walking the streets, and I like that. He’s out there. The city is bustling, the streets are clean, and there’s a good vibe in our town. I am wiling to say Mr. Gray is doing something right.
To many, Rick Gray’s call for an anti-sticker ordinance is dismissible and unimportant. To me, it feels like the beginning of an end. I speak only from my own perspective, which is all I know. But, I am part of a generation who grew up in the suburbs, where everything is perfect, or is made to look perfect. The suburbs feel inauthentic. Cities are attractive because of their authenticity. They are honest. There is undeniable diversity: of cultures, and of thought. Not everything is perfect in cities, and not everything is perfect in life. I find the most beauty in imperfections. The old rusty fire escape, viewable in Square One’s courtyard, is my favorite object in the whole city. That fire escape has a story to tell. Good stories have conflict and imperfections. This is the authenticity I am interested in. The unpolished voices are the ones I am most eager to hear.
Many think the Lancaster Arts community is thriving. I agree to an extent. But it will die if my generation does not carry it into the future. A sticker that encourages me to ‘Embrace The Beauty’ is more meaningful to me then a watercolor painting of a barn. It is the power of those little surprises that turn my days around and make me smile. They are made not because of a market, but because the creator believed it was important. I would rather see a flyer for a poor kids band, then an ad for a rich person’s clothing store. I fear that spending time and energy curbing stickers in the city will create a bigger divide between the creators in our city, and the creators in our city who have enough money to display ’stickers’ in their shop windows. We created We Are Lancaster to be a voice for members of the creative class who didn’t have the money to share their abilities in store fronts or glossy magazines. We have failed at keeping this blog going. But we have not lost hope.
I often go to NYC, Baltimore, Philly, or DC and I look for the stickers. I check out the bulletin boards as well as the telephone poles. I want to know what is really happening in the city, not what the city wants me to think about it. I want to form my own opinion of the character of a place. I want to know the people, not the institutions. I walk on the beautiful new streetscapes everyday in Lancaster, and I am thankful that we have them. But why does this need to be an either/or scenario. Why can’t a city have beautiful brick walkways, and wonderful little stamps of personality. A sticker costs a dollar. Renting a gallery could be $1500 a month.
I think we should all make stickers (although I would never publicly encourage you to stick them to anything). I’m not encouraging disrespect or vandalism. It is completely stupid to put a sticker on top of the Lancaster City maps that are displayed around town. It feels different to see a sticker on a trashcan. I don’t think I am alone in this. But I’d like to hear your thoughts. This little headline that came across my twitter post at midnight frustrated me enough that I got out of bed to write a response. It makes me, a twenty-something artist and designer, who loves Lancaster, want to move to a place where art is for everyone. Maybe there is a reason that there aren’t similar ordinances in the rest of Pennsylvania. I hope there are 5 fines given for political propaganda, for every 1 that is given to a young artist trying to be heard.
I am growing up, and my idealism is shifting. I understand economies and I understand tourism. To me, finding beauty in imperfections has led me to a much richer life.
I applaud the organization that Lancaster Arts provides, and the creation of a Public Arts Manager is a wonderful step in the right direction. I want to see Lancaster thrive, but I think their needs to be two players: those willing to sit on boards and plan art, as well as those who are willing to express themselves wherever they can. Nowadays, everyone has a business card, but not everyone carries them in their wallets.
I’d love to hear thoughts. I am probably wrong, but I’m interested in dialogue. Feel free to leave a comment below…
Here is the link to the article: http://articles.lancasteronline.com/local/4/253214
With love for the imperfections of this beautiful little city,
Tim Hoover
37 Comments so far
37 Responses to “I Think The Mayor Is Wrong. I am probably wrong too.”
9:40 am on May 5th, 2010
Well said.
9:46 am on May 5th, 2010
Totally agree with you! There is a difference between “defacing city property” (covering up a city map with a band sticker) and making something uninteresting interesting (the sticker on the trashcan). I too am worried about what this would mean for the vibe of the city.
Well said, Tim.
9:54 am on May 5th, 2010
You are a writer. And this needs to get to the mayor, pronto.
9:58 am on May 5th, 2010
Tim,
How do you enforce, in the bureaucratic reality which is law enforcement, the difference between slapping a sticker on a city map and slapping a sticker or flyer on a telephone poll or trash can?
I agree with the sentiment of your post, but sadly, too many vandals whose intentions are not as pure or idealistic as your may be have ruined it for everyone.
10:04 am on May 5th, 2010
Putting stickers up is already illegal.
It is giving cops the authority to determine and track down the “responsible party” that I take issue with.
The ordinance effectively criminalizes the distribution of stickers.
If a fan of my band supports us by buying some stickers for a few bucks, and then tags one up on an electrical box, that’s graffiti, sure. But what happens after the “crime”?
The police determine that my band is the “responsible party” and if we don’t come clean it up, or if was stuck on something that the adhesive stubbornly sticks to, they levy a fine on us?
What about bands from California, that come and perform for 1,000 people at the Chameleon Club, stimulating the local economy? Will they need to fly back here to clean up a sticker that one of their fans put up?
What about “Gray for Mayor” stickers?
The only good thing that could come of this is the guaranteed proliferation of those hysterical Rick Gray stencil stickers.
10:08 am on May 5th, 2010
Right on, Tim. It’s this kind of thinking…with a seemingly innocuous little law…that puts it on a slippery slope. Yes, we want our city to be beautiful. Yes, vandalism and defacing public property are wrong.
But I love the “personality” and “character” of Lancaster. And there’s a difference between by NOT prohibiting something, it doesn’t mean you are encouraging it.
And from what I gather from this proposed ordinance, it’s not necessarily the person who puts the sticker on a trash can that gets punished. If a band hands out stickers…and a fan decides to stick it on something, it is the band that is liable. That seems awfully wrongheaded.
Thanks for this, Tim.
10:12 am on May 5th, 2010
@Kate, I don’t have an answer. Maybe the few have ruined it for the many. I don’t think idealism ‘works’…I do think it is a good place to start a dialogue. Thanks for your comment.
10:31 am on May 5th, 2010
Great article Tim. I think you should read this at the next city council meeting. And yes, you are a writer.
I don’t have anything to say on this issue that hasn’t been said already, above. I have a lot of problems with this proposed law, and I think we should all go to the next city council meeting to speak out against it.
10:31 am on May 5th, 2010
It has to be all those dumbass KVIZA stickers that get slapped up on everything. You can harass them here… http://www.facebook.com/pages/Kviza-The-Comrades/225951078845#!/pages/Kviza-The-Comrades/225951078845?v=wall They’ve been here forever, are boring, and add nothing to the city. A good sticker to see is on a pay phone to the right of the hair place on the 200 block of east king. It has a tag on it and a drawing of peter griffin.
On another point, Gray could be doing more to support union contractors, living wage standards, and community benefit agreements. Not horribly alarming “liberal” policies enacted in many other cities.
City needs some cash inflow to solve some wealth inequality issues while bolstering public services. ie. levy formal property taxes on LGH and F&M and more heavily tax those who work in the city and live outside of it instead of jacking up property taxes.
10:45 am on May 5th, 2010
Great post Tim. This is a muddy subject. Although I get upset when I see vandalism, I also understand that living in a “city” comes with the good and the bad. To me, stickers add a little humanity to the city’s texture. The only answer that I see is to let things be as they are. You get caught, you get fined. If not, then good for you. In the meantime, I will get to making Inkling Media stickers with contact info and post them everywhere. Kidding, Ken.
10:46 am on May 5th, 2010
Good thoughts and well voiced man! The whole sticker issue seems to find validity on both sides of the arguments. I think respect for property and people should win out in the end.
Thanks for writing this!
Ben
10:51 am on May 5th, 2010
I think we should invite the mayor to come hang out with the young creatives for a couple of days. Get coffee, tour some galleries off of Prince St., get coffee at SquareOne and smoke a pipe in the back, and end it in the mosh pit at Chameleon.
10:56 am on May 5th, 2010
There’s an easy solution to this. For $80 at stickerguy.com, you can get 1,000 stickers with Mayor Gray’s contact information on them. Posting them on city property makes Mayor Gray the “responsible party,” and makes him responsible for the fine ($50-$600 each!).
11:05 am on May 5th, 2010
Let’s organize and all show up at City Council next Tuesday!
http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=117088688323135
11:44 am on May 5th, 2010
@Jim, My intent wasn’t to start a push back. It was to pose a few simple questions. And to invite everyone to think about what builds a city’s character and personality.
‘I do think the mayor is wrong. But I am probably wrong too.’ I certainly know nothing about running a city.
11:53 am on May 5th, 2010
Tim — why not push back against this? I’m not saying I know how to run a city, but I think it’s clear that this is a bad proposition, is it not? Bad laws get made because smart people refuse to stand up against them.
12:09 pm on May 5th, 2010
Laws that make the “responsible party” remove signs, stickers, etc. have been in place for many, many years for political materials. And even if s/he did not post the materials, the candidate is always responsible for removal and fines. Why this should be different for other signs and stickers (especially those used for commercial promotion)?
Tim, you present your position well and make may valid points. However, you are envisioning rather ideal situations where the stickers are for very positive or benign messages. What happens when the message is negative or even hate-filled? Do we want Lancaster City blanketed with stickers promoting a message of bigotry?
Unfortunately, when considering ordinances like this an elected official usually has to go with the lowest common denominator. Speech is protected, even when we don’t like it. If a message of creativity is allowed to be stickered to a trash can, then a message of hate MUST be allowed to be right next to it. That can be remarkably frustrating, but it is the law of the land. A city CAN say: NO STICKERS! But it CANNOT say: You’re sticker is okay but yours is not.
12:13 pm on May 5th, 2010
Yeah so Kviza and the Comrades adds nothing to the city? What about Folk the Park, or all of the shows at Senorita Burrita? He is my stepson and I know for a fact that he tells people not to vandalize anything with them. If he is made responsible for people that put them on shit then he is being victimized for promoting his band, and building his band image so he can make money. What’s the solution? Not sell merchandise at his shows? Only sell pins and patches? I remove any Kviza stickers I see on stuff it doesn’t need to be on like the maps, but if it’s on a telephone pole I leave it…I remember the old days when telephone poles were used for sign posts for garage sales and events and I think they should be used for that kind of stuff.
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12:32 pm on May 5th, 2010
Well versed, and I appreciate the push for dialogue. I agree wholly with your sentiments, and furthermore, i find the beauty of a city in the space for dialogue. You have worked hard to create this space, and for that I am thankful, I hope we all continue to utilize this and other spaces for dialogue such as this, and for many other issues that arise in our great city of Lancaster.
Thanks Tim.
12:36 pm on May 5th, 2010
So, I’m supposed to put up with stickers and posters just so some poor, sensory-deprived suburban kids can experience “authentic” city life?
Give me a Break!
I grew up in downtown Lancaster and inner city Philadelphia in the 70s/80s, when grafitti and litter were rampant. Rode the “el” to school in Center City, then biked.
I’ll take an effort to keep the city a little nicer over “authentic” experience for bored skate-punk teens and still bored post college 20somethings any day!
Nice, new shiny things in the city will get trashed soon enough- we don’t need to speed up the process!!
12:43 pm on May 5th, 2010
@Jeff Stockwell:
Isn’t there a fundamental problem with the “responsible party” part? I can make a sticker with your name on it, and post it all over town. Should you then be responsible for cleaning them up?
Should McDonald’s be responsible for litter that has their logo on it? If someone leaves a broken refrigerator on the curb, do we call Maytag and ask them to remove it?
IANAL, but once you sell something to a person, it’s their responsibility, 100%. Remington is not responsible when a store is robbed using one of their weapons; Honda is not responsible when someone speeds using one of their cars; Nike is not responsible when someone jaywalks in their shoes. A band is not responsible if someone commits vandalism with one of their stickers.
12:44 pm on May 5th, 2010
My problems with this proposed ordinance are more related to how they will be enforced and who will be victimized by it. If this law exists, I can see people plastering their political opponents all over city signs and trash cans. And, as was already mentioned, what about the bands who give out stickers to kids, not intending for those kids to put the stickers all over the city. Political signs are a different subject all together, as they are posted for a limited period of time and the eyesore they create is supposed to go away after elections. To compare a political sign to a band sticker is apples to oranges, IMO. I just don’t see how this law could be enforced fairly.
1:47 pm on May 5th, 2010
Hey dude, I completely agree with you. I tour the country in a band and get to see a lot of different cities. When asking kids how they like their town, I always here “It’s boring, blah blah, nothing to do”. I always respond confidently and proudly that I’m from Lancaster, and love it. Lancaster has D.I.Y sense and feel, and a strong work ethic in the creative culture. However, I can already see a change in the “rawness” of this. I remember years ago going to first Friday’s, being in a street musician and playing music and feeling like I was really contributing to something, this “aurora” of Lancaster. Good times, good jamming, everyone is having fun. It’s a true sense of freedom to enjoy you’re life. It has since changed, permits are needed, violations occur. I understand where things grow, there needs to be “order” behind everything, but I feel like there is a way to satisfy the community and still have order.
Lancaster, please don’t let this be the beginning of an end to a great city.
The city is bursting at the seems with creative people wanting to have an outlet for their arts, lets come up with a better solution than just saying no, otherwise you’re going to push us all away.
1:54 pm on May 5th, 2010
“The solicitor said it would be difficult to enforce. I told him ‘I don’t care,’ ” Gray said.
If this ordinance is added to the books, and someone purposefully disobeys it and gets caught/fined, I for one am willing to chip in to help cover the fine and/or legal fees. The more creative your act of civil disobedience, the better.
And Tim, authentic community needs people who will stay even when bad policy decisions are made, and things don’t go their way. Otherwise, it’s all transience, not true community.
2:01 pm on May 5th, 2010
@daniel, Good point. I agree about true community.
2:52 pm on May 5th, 2010
@Paul What does that have to do with a musician that makes next to nothing for his efforts being made to clean up after his fans or have to face fines? You don’t even know the people in Kviza and The Comrades…and I doubt that you’ve listened to their music. The fact that you want people to harass them simply because some of their fans like to be idiots and misguidedly deface public property with their favorite band’s sticker just makes you sound like an intolerant and vindictive person. Also KV the leader of the band grew up in among other places in the city and hangs out mostly in the city, performs in the city, and is active in city based charities like Food Not Bombs. Graffiti is one thing when it’s permanent and I believe that people caught doing graffiti should be prosecuted, even the people that put stickers up in stupid places should be prosecuted…but to go after the subject of a sticker is ridiculous, imagine what would happen if someone put up stickers of the Mayor pointing to his website…would he be exempt because he didn’t print them? Would he be made to remove them? Honestly I think he wouldn’t and would just make the city eat the bill, which is a double standard. There is already a flash mob forming that will plaster the city with stickers of the mayor when this ordinance gets approved, if it gets approved and you can bet he will be called on it. I and Kviza don’t condone posting the stickers on public property so why should he be fined because of what someone else did? That’s the real crux of this debate, why should the people that manufacture the stickers be made to remove them or face a fine? The people that stick them should face the fine, I mean we are already the most surveilled city in the USA just pay more attention to the cameras and prosecute the people that stick them…this ordinance is less about cleaning up the city and more about extorting money from innocent people.
9:38 pm on May 5th, 2010
Great post Tim - thanks.
11:20 pm on May 5th, 2010
“Poor Kid in a Band” in his 10:04am response drives the real issue home. The ordinance, as it’s been proposed, would make guilty - example - the band whose sticker has been placed by a FAN in such a way that it is legally deemed graffiti or vandalism. This approach is just ludicrous. Not a well thought out plan at all.
Mayor Gray needs to go back to the blackboard on this one, erase and start over - or better yet, move on to a REAL problem in the city needing to be addressed.
10:18 am on May 6th, 2010
I agree 100% this is a muddy subject. I can understand some reason for wanting to put the ordinance into action but it seems that gray is just trying to control. Stickers, posters, provide information or art to city residents and maybe even visitors.
“When I see the new streetscape and I know how much it costs, I get upset about this,” said Gray, referring to the $2.9 million project that replaced sidewalks and curbs and added brick banding, planters, benches and trees to downtown streets.
I’m just frustrated. Its all about the benjamins here. Gray doesn’t care about sticker, or the lost dog, he cares that it gets off his property and doesnt deface the value of the city. He’s trying to cover his ass and rake in the dough. Great article, you are a fantastic writer and you stirred up thoughts from alot of people.
1:08 pm on May 6th, 2010
You’d think that the city would be able to use all of their shiny cameras to view and track down the responsible party instead of going after the band, for example.
…you’d think.
9:24 am on May 7th, 2010
What I personally find interesting is that the genre of sticker art/graffiti etc has been so firmly accepted by the arts community that to treat it is simply as vandalism shows a lack of connection with 2010. And I don’t think you have to be part of the intelligentsia to notice this. All you have to do is browse the Art sections of any Barnes & Noble or Border’s bookstore in any suburban mall in the U.S. and count the number of books on graffiti/stickers. Take that number and compare it with the number of books on the Renaissance or Colonial America. Numbers speak clearly. Like the Carter Foundation, we should not ban stickers but study stickers. See my blog posting http://kourelis.blogspot.com/2009/09/graffiti-taxonomy.html and related ideas under “Street Art”
3:15 pm on May 7th, 2010
To briefly add on to Ashley’s comment and the mayor’s quote,
““When I see the new streetscape and I know how much it costs, I get upset about this,” said Gray, referring to the $2.9 million project that replaced sidewalks and curbs…”
I get upset that the bike racks that were put in with this cityscape up-do are barely bolted to the ground and that the entire thing could be stolen in a minute. I won’t care if there’s a sticker on this kind of “new” thing because it never seemed quality to me in the first place.
I know this seems like it’s piggy backing on the whole issue of “a city will get bad anyway, why speed it up” and ‘just because something’s not good in our opinion doesn’t mean we should stop taking care of it’ and other moral issues.
But I don’t mean to comment on those. I’m simply wondering why the bike racks aren’t better.
… the huge flower pots are cool, though.
also, Tim: I really appreciate your opinions and writings. Do it some more.
12:13 pm on May 11th, 2010
I couldn’t agree with you more Tim well said! For someone who works full time with the music community seeing stickers/fliers around highlights the rich music/art scene we are so lucky to have here in Lancaster. Plus is valuable free marketing(which is hard to find in this economy) for our business for our shows. Is there a mailing address we send letters to about this to voice our opinions?
2:47 pm on May 11th, 2010
Came across this blog by someone in NYC. The post includes a statement on how clean Lancaster is. http://iluvdezine.wordpress.com/2009/08/11/lancaster-city-pa-sticker-art/
10:00 am on May 12th, 2010
“I want to know the people, not the institutions.”
right on.
I worry about the Disneyfication of the city–Central Market, the streets, shops, etc.
To his credit, though, Gray has contemplated banning plastic bags and fast food bags/wrappers, specifically because of McDonald’s trash factory on King St. But he hasn’t done it yet–I’d like to see it. But the sticker/poster ban doesn’t make sense.
2:28 pm on May 12th, 2010
Charlie, how would an ordinance like that work (banning food bags and wrappers)? Would I need to hold out my hand and get a handful of hot fries at McDonald’s? Or would we just shut McDonald’s down? Seems like a bit of a stretch to target McDonald’s just because some of their customers are slobs who never learned that littering is wrong and illegal. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve seen some idiot walking down the sidewalk in the city and throw a candy wrapper or something else on the ground, as if that’s where it belongs. I get so angry when I see that, but I don’t want to confront the person for fear it will end in violence. Would we make candy bar wrappers illegal too?
8:39 am on May 13th, 2010
Daniel- thanks for posting that link. i found it interesting that the “local” did not know who person was on the sticker. interestingly enough, it was a sticker of mayor gray.. hmm
Charlie and Jim- i agree, im not sure how an ordinance like that would work. It is annoying the amount of trash and plastic bottles or glass throughout the city. but who is to say that mcdonalds trash is any worse than turkey hill bottles. i feel the same way when my neighbors or community members throw their trash onto the sidewalk or better yet my front yard. its annoying, but for the same fear that a confrontation could end in violence, i don’t bother to say anything..i think if mayor gray tried to ban mcdonalds wrappers he wouldnt win. thats a whole corporation to go against.