E-mail to City and CRA staff regarding distribution of leaflets in the downtown

I brought this up at the CRA meeting last night and put together an e-mail to Joan Oliva and Rachel Bach this morning. You can click the title for the section of the code where language regulating this is contained (in the left frame, click on "Chapter 3 - Advertising" - this is where all the Charter and Code language can be found on the Internet. I encourage you to bookmark it or add it to your favorites.)

Here is the e-mail:

Joan and Rachel:

I brought this issue up at last night's CRA meeting. More and more people are distributing handbills and the like on cars in the downtown area. Since the CRA is contracting with someone to clean the area, I am afraid these are adding to the work they already have to do. There is a whole section in the City Code - Chapter 3 Advertising that says that this sort of advertising is not permitted. In fact, I thought that there was even a "per piece" fine for this sort of thing - although I didn't see it referenced in the ordinance.

I know this comes at a time when businesses are struggling and this is inexpensive advertising. But, it is illegal and contributes to the waste stream. Currently, this is not being enforced. I suggest that we either enforce what is on the books or repeal this entire section of the code.

Your thoughts are appreciated. I have included the code language below for your reference.

Wes Blackman