SCRUB News Alert: City Law Department Making Deals With the Billboard Industry

Samples of Comments Sent to City Officials by Community Members

If you would like to write your own letter to the Mayor, City Council, or the Law Department, please visit hallwatch.org here.

Dear Solicitor Diaz,

I have received email from Mary Tracy, S.C.R.U.B., that billboards which have been cited as illegal in Philadelphia may be subject to negotiations with the city's legal department to legalize them. As someone who has been fighting for the rejuvenation of the Germantown commercial district since 1993 against common neglect to enforcement of sign and vending violations, I am disturbed to hear about this accusation.

Just last week, Ms. Tracy told me that complaints I made about two illegal billboards in the heart of our district had been passed on to the city's legal department. Does this mean that they will be negotiated behind closed doors to be legal? I hope not.

One case has been there for years, most recently owned by Clear Channel.
The other is a renegade sign, installed by a property owner without any
apparent process to advertise a business owned that the same property
owner at a different location in the business district. Very clever!

I am attaching photos of the advertising mentioned.

Please see to it that violations are enforced and not negotiated
secretly into legality.

JS

What? The City Law Department, working in secret meetings, is
about to "legitimize" the billboards which so many of us have
fought so hard to have removed? How can this be? The billboard
industry has ignored every law, and the results of every court
hearing, that have clearly shown that their billboards are illegal!

How can the City Law Department join the billboard owners in
circumventing the law? How can the City not hold this industry
to the same standard than we law abiding citizens are held to?

Surely this can't happen! Please do what you can, to stop the
deal! Thank you.

Why is city attorney Diaz behind closed doors with this industry
that has flouted city law and fines for years? Why isn't city law
being enforced and illegal boards taken down and fines collected?
Has someone cut a deal and have "lobbying fees" been paid?

City Council needs to provide oversight through PUBLIC HEARINGS
so that the city isn't being sold to the highest bidder and
public confidence in city governance can be restored. After
scandals involving DeLay, Cunningham, Abramoff, etc. at the
national level and FBI probes of city hall dealings, we need to
make sure all negotiations and deals are public and squeaky clean.

Please work to provide oversight of how the City negotiates with
this industry by supporting PUBLIC HEARINGS.

Thanks you.

Dear Mayor and City Council Members,

I urge you to follow the law and established precedent as it
pertains to the billboard industry. When the City law department
negotiates with the billboard industry lawyers in secret, it
makes a mockery of our laws and of the previous judgments passed
in favor of the city in regard to illegal billboards in
Philadelphia. It is no accident that scofflaws of all kinds feel
they can break laws with impunity in Philadelphia, from running
red lights to dumping trash in our neighborhoods. Be consistent
in your actions and hold law breakers accountable. This sends the
right message to the billboard industry and the citizens of our
city and surrounding communities.

From South Philadelphia:

As a tax-paying citizen of this city, I expect my elected officials to act publicly
and responsibly. Just like my paying taxes and voting, so your actions are what
makes this a democracy rather than a corrupt oligarchy. My expectations cover
the administrators appointed by elected officials, too.

So when there is a law against illegal billboards, I expect that this law will be
enforced, especially when those violating the law have been found guilty in a
court of law and when the City's own operating departments have found the
billboards to be in violation of city laws and ordinances.

In other words, I am telling you that your responsibility is to enforce the laws
against illegal, intrusive billboards, not to cut deals with the billboard
companies. Allowing companies to violate the law leads to the destruction of
democracy. I assume that you do not want your legacies to be so negative.

Briefly put: do not allow any city department to make a deal that will allow
illegal billboards to remain in our neighborhoods. JUST ENFORCE THE LAW
FAIRLY! This is not an outrageous demand in a democracy.

Sincerely,
R D

I received a notice that City Solicitor Romulo Diaz admitted that
the Philadelphia Law Department was completing its negotiations
with the billboard industry to "legitimize" billboards.

Illegal billboards are illegal. They don't become legal by
ignoring the law long enough. Especially when so many city
neighborhoods are increasing in value, it is important that they
not be blighted by illegal billboards. No suburban neighborhood
would tolerate that. Why do we want to make our neighborhoods
less desirable?

I have just learned that on Tuesday, March 28, 2006 in testimony
before the City Council’s Budget Committee, City Solicitor
Romulo Diaz admitted that the Philadelphia Law Department was
completing its negotiations with the billboard industry
to “legitimize” billboards.

Translation: Behind closed doors, the Philadelphia Law
Department is busy working out a deal with the billboard
industry to legalize billboard blight in our neighborhoods.
These stealth negotiations are happening with no public notice
and no community input.

This is outrageous. I have been following this story for some
time and ask that you stop this secret dealmaking and instead
enforce the law: REMOVE these illegal billboards.

Do not reward the billboard companies who ignore the law and
contribute to neighborhood blight. Most likely these offensive
billboards are strategically placed in neighborhoods where the
citizens feel least empowered to object. Indeed, how can they
object when these Law Department negotiations are being
conducted without a public forum.

Please do the right thing and remove these illegal billboards.

I was appalled to read that the city law department is in
negotiations with the billboard industry to legalize existing
billboards. Over the years the billboard industry has acting
illegally and defaced our neighborhoods. And yet here we go
again with another behind the scenes transaction reminiscent
of "pay to play." As my elected official I expect you to hold
city agencies accountable to enforce the codes and laws that you
enact. Allowing the law department to circumvent the laws is
unacceptable. You must act and stop this unethical business as
usual,if you truly care about our neighborhoods.

WMC

From West Philadelphia:

I hope some of you are as outraged as I am at this travesty and will lodge a protest with Jannie Blackwell and anyone else you think might listen.

From West Philadelphia:

I fully support the goals of SCRUB and am very suspicious of any deal making with the billboard industry. Don't let the hidden deliberations of attorneys undercut the valiant and conscientious work of the people like Mary Tracy who are trying to keep a lid on ugliness and disrespect for neighborhoods.

From Northwest Philadelphia:

Dear Mayor Street and Council Members,

It has come to my attention that the City Law Department has
been carrying on secret negotiations to "legitimize" billboards
that, under current law, are illegal. These negotiations, of
course, are taking place after many years during which the city
consistently failed to enforce the law limiting billboards.

Billboards are a blight on many communities in this city,
including my own, Mt. Airy. For years now community groups have
been working together with SCRUB to limit this blight. Instead
of action, we have been subject to delay and after delay in the
enforcement of the law, even though the current law is much
weaker than it should be.

I urge you in the strongest possible terms to insist that the
current laws be strictly enforced. If they are not, not only
will our communities be blighted but Philadelphia will once
again be stained by public policy that is clearly being carried
on behalf of special interests whose money and connections
carries more weight than the clearly expressed views of a
majority of City Council and the citizens of Philadelphia.
I will be asking my community association, West Mt. Airy
Neighbors, and Neighborhood Networks to take a strong stand on
this issue.

From West Philadelphia:

When my family moved to the Overbrook Farms section of Philadelphia about 18 years ago, I naturally started reading the daily papers. I remember being somewhat surprised that a city councilman was in jail -- Leland Beloff, if memory serves. Then there was another one and I was less shocked, and when Councilman Mariano was convicted last week, I don't think I even read the whole article. Just another day in the City.

But when I get information that the City Solicitor is scheming behind closed doors against the citizens of Philadelphia and making deals that are absolutely against the law, I am shocked all over again!

What ARE you thinking? Have you not considered that if the city would collect the fines that have already been levied against the billboard industry and collect the fees due for legal billboards, there would be no need for sneaky under the table deals?

From West Philadelphia:

This is so outrageous it wouldn't even be believable anywhere but in Philadelphia! I already sent a letter through Hallwatch the very SECOND this came across my computer screen earlier today.