Signs of the times: Council is right to call for billboard pause

A moratorium is NOT a fix. A moratorium is another layer of red tape. A moratorium is two-steps backward before there is any hope of going forward.

Again, Bruce Kraus offers a blunder of a solution. This isn't a solution. Likewise, his measure on the billboard with a will of council that was then put ahead with "a hold" from its sponsor was NOT worthy of the sink of time.

Again, we see folly. Again, we have council acting like a dog that chases its tail.

Signs of the times: Council is right to call for billboard pause: "Councilman Bruce Kraus has called for the moratorium while the disagreement is resolved. Further, council has drafted a remedy that would give council a vote on any sign replacement agreements. That fix, in the form of a short amendment to the zoning code, may not be quite right. The solution must be consistent with other parts of the code, and that blanket power for council does not seem to be.

None of this is to suggest that a moratorium on billboards should be permanent. A group in Lawrenceville, for instance, wants two new digital signs in the neighborhood in exchange for Lamar removing more vinyl versions.

The challenge will be finding a way that continues to allow advertising that enlivens the cityscape without cluttering it up.

Council has more work to do.

Of course council has work to do. And, the real work of getting to the roots of our problems are far into the distance of a hope of a dream of a vision that is but a seed from those on council now. That seed for attacking the roots of problems is wrapped in red tape and within an apple core in some circular file on Grant Street in an office around a smoke eater. Progressive victories lay there. Oh so close.