Cherry picker plan
I want to respond briefly to your article regarding Initiative 46 ("Pole Position," 3/18).
I don't believe that I dismissed the safety issue. Quite the contrary. I think it's the only possible valid argument our opponents have. I care very much about the safety of city workers. I believe we can protect safety and protect our free speech rights. This is 1999. Can't we find safer ways to work on a pole than climbing them? Can the city not afford cherry pickers, or ladders? If a worker must absolutely put on a harness and spikes and climb a pole, then we should pay someone to scrape the poles clean before they start to climb it. I note that no action has been taken to remove the tacks, nails, or staples from any of the city light poles. All that was removed was the posters. No, I do not dismiss the safety issues. I just think we have means to keep our workers safe and protect our precious free speech rights.
Tim Crowley
Campaign Manager, I-I46
Not pole punks
I am one of the three I-46 volunteers Mike Romano interviewed for "Pole Position" (3/18). He called us "Seattle's pierced and tattooed," which wouldn't bother me if it was true. I feel that making sweeping generalizations like that is unnecessary and actually detrimental to our cause. Whether or not I'm punk shouldn't matter.
Using a picture of a utility pole caked with shredded posters and a sarcastic caption was anything but nonbiased journalism. The issue should not be whether or not posters are pleasing to the eye, but rather that everyone has the right to free speech. If we have to be bombarded with billboards and advertising on public transportation, then it only seems fair that we, the public, should be allowed equal opportunity.
This is not about music posters, it's about community. It's not a bunch of snotty punk rockers trying to beat City Hall, it's about a group of people from diverse backgrounds coming together to say that we have a right to freely communicate with each other.
For the record, Tim Crowley and I did not quit the Kiosk Task Force together to start Free Speech Seattle.
BethAnn Fell
owner, Hi*Score Arcade, Penny & Perk
Keep Seattle tidy!
The 3/11 Weekly issue had letters from whiners complaining about the posting ban. Get over it! The main reason for the ban is safety. People who work on poles find it difficult to climb them when festooned with hundreds of staples. Go figure!
The ban has also proven to be an act of beautification. I have noticed less clutter along the streets that were traditional posting sites. That clutter was not caused by "tidy" citizens. It is caused by slovenly transients and all too many youth who have little respect for the environment.
Freedom of speech can be had by encouraging kiosks, community message boards, etc. Why should my tax dollars be spent on cleanup because some promoters are too cheap to pay for advertising? Freedom requires responsibility. That is another part of the equation too many forget.
keith l. boe
Seattle