Signs, Schooling and much more
Over the years, I’ve become fairly adept at looking at a meeting agenda and determining if there are any hot-button issues or not.
When I saw Red Oak’s City Council was considering changes to its sign ordinance, I thought it would be a fairly routine and mundane matter, one that wouldn’t create much discussion.
Wow. Was I ever wrong there.
Basically, after last week’s meeting, the future of the sign ordinance is very much in doubt. There are suddenly more questions than answers: will it cover the entire town, will it grandfather in pole signs along with the others, will there even be a sign ordinance?
A petition I wrote about a few weeks ago is largely to blame for last week’s discussion, which focused largely on pole signs and the economic hardships business owners would incur if they had to remove them and put up a different sign.
Instead of rehashing all the details of the arguments, I’m going to focus on a solution instead: Grandfather in all signs.
By doing so, those with existing signs are spared the financial repercussions of having to replace their sign, while at the same time, those pole signs will eventually be phased out through changes of ownership and disrepair.
Those who want mercy on the businessman get it, and those who want the pole signs gone get that too, albeit later than sooner.
I for one still don’t like the idea behind the ordinance and the basic tenet that government is essentially telling the business owner what they can do with their private property in the name of “popular” opinion.
However, this seems like a reasonable solution.
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I hope you also noticed on the front page of today’s Express the latest update on the ongoing Mark Schooling saga.
The Red Oak man accused of molesting three children is back in jail, this time on a $20,000 bond.
While the Magistrate may have agreed with the arresting officer and released Schooling on his own recognizance after his initial arrest, the District Judge obviously had a different idea.
In all respect to the arresting officer, this does seem to make a lot more sense.
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Congressman Steve King hosted an event in Des Moines last week featuring a handful of GOP presidential hopefuls.
Minnesota Congresswoman Michele Bachmann received the biggest ovation (which I find disturbing), and joined with former House Speaker Newt Gingrich in criticizing President Barack Obama for the United States’ involvement in Libya.
Oh, how the dance partners suddenly change.
Remember when it was the Democrats criticizing the Republicans for U.S. military action in the Middle East? Yeah, that was keen.
Maybe if Obama claimed Libya had weapons of mass destruction buried in the sand, he would get a pass.
Gregory Orear is the General Manager/Editor of the Red Oak Express. He can be contacted at publisher@redoak-express.com.