By Letters To The Editor

Written by Letters To The Editor

Estimated Reading Time: 2 minutes

Tucson has been invaded by jerks, oafs, galoots and slobs—or JOGS for short.

They’ve come from their hometown of Los Angeles and are trying to make Tucson look as shabby and misgoverned as the City of Angels.

How are they doing that?  For the last month, they’ve been planting the following garish signs along roadways throughout the metropolis, especially on the corners and medians of busy intersections, where they are a distraction to drivers in a city that is a leader in pedestrians being run over.

At just one intersection near my house in the Foothills, they planted multiple signs on four separate days.  If a community association or the county removed them, the JOGS would quickly replace them.

At that rate, there are probably hundreds, if not thousands, of signs planted around the metro area.

Can this be cheaper and more effective than being civic-minded and advertising the right way—that is, via newspaper ads, postal mailings, radio and TV commercials, and targeted internet ads?  It must be, because many shady businesses advertise this way in Tucson.

Not only is this tacky and in violation of sign ordinances, but it’s grossly unfair to legitimate businesses that advertise the right way.  It’s certainly unfair to a jewelry store that spends thousands of dollars to install an attractive, conforming sign constructed of stone and brass in front of the store, surrounded by nice landscaping.

The city and county are essentially penalizing businesses that comply with ordinances and are good neighbors.  How perverse is that?

Meanwhile, the JOGS seem to violate ordinances with impunity.  Or maybe they have the implicit blessing of local government, given how local leaders seem to believe that carpetbaggers from L.A. will make Tucson prosperous.  Actually, what would make Tucson prosperous is improving its appearance and upkeep so that high-paying corporations will find the place attractive enough and well-governed enough to move here.

It speaks volumes that the JOGS brazenly plant the signs in the middle of the day and not in the dark of night.  For instance, while waiting for a traffic light at the intersection of Sabino Canyon and Tanque Verde, I saw one of the JOGS drilling holes on the shoulder with a battery-powered drill.  The holes were for the planting of one of the signs.

I was tempted to lower my passenger window and suggest another place where he could stick the sign.  But discretion and a moment of delusion stopped me from doing so.

My momentary delusion was thinking that the city and county would tell the JOGS to remove the signs ASAP or be fined for violating sign ordinances.

Then I remembered that the goal of the city and county is to be like Los Angeles.

-Letter from TPP Audience 

This is being written anonymously because there is no telling what other laws the JOGS are willing to break.

 

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