Right a Way

Writing on social and political issues is an interesting way to spend your time with a self imposed writing assignment. A letter to the editor is a good format for this expression. I don't think you necessarily need a lot of background on the issue itself in order to contribute to the public discussion about it. An issue I find interesting in my community is the illegal placement of signs in the public right of ways. Political signs and Realtor signs come to mind as the biggest offenders. My community has an ordinance prohibiting the placement of signs in these areas, but the ordinance has never been enforced in the past thirteen years of its existence. The Community Development office that enacted the ordinance has now decided to enforce it. The questions that immediately came to mind are "Why has the ordinance not been enforced for the past thirteen years?" and "Why now?" It appears counter-productive to enact an ordinance for perceived offenses when there is no enforcement effort in place. Perhaps it was the potential intimidation factor that the originators of the ordinance thought would self-enforce any violations. Some signs have been permanently installed in the right of ways. Community and religious organizations and local businesses make up the majority of these signs. I rather suspect the enforcement policy will be selective and self-serving. How can you squeeze the triger on your own church?