Duct Tape!

As Martin Short’s Ed Grimley character says, “I couldn’t be more excited, I must say”. (That link is a 49-second YouTube video, which made me laugh out loud all over again. Highly recommended). I’ve been asked to be a member of Commissioner Leonard’s Duct Tape Committee. It’s probably got some fancy schmancy name other than the Duct Tape Committee, but anyway, I’m going to be on it. Run that Ed Grimley video again…

A quick recap for those who’ve been out of town the past seven weeks: the good people at the Portland Mercury became aware the week before the Rose Parade that Randy Leonard was concerned some people were chaining lawn chairs and putting down duct tape to “claim”/reserve prime viewing spots for the Rose Parade, days ahead of time. It’s not clear to me whether the Mercury or Randy initiated the process, or had the idea simultaneously and independently. Being the good-hearted, public-spirited citizens they are, the Mercury folks organized a tape removal party the day before the Grand Floral Parade. Hilarity ensued (that link has a nice photo of Nordstrom’s corporate chairs, and a sweet one of Mercury reporters Amy and Matt, on Oregon Media Insiders). The following week at City Council, Commissioner Leonard introduced an ordinance banning placement of chairs or tape prior to a parade. The motion was tabled pending the work of a committee to refine the language, coordinated by Randy and the Rose Festival organizers.

I didn’t participate in the Civic Clean-Up Squad, but I did testify at Council on the proposed ordinance – mostly to point out the flawed logic in allowing people to sit on the sidewalk for pleasure while denying that right to people with no other place to live, in the Sit-Lie ordinance. I’m happy to work on the committee defining the right code language for the use of sidewalks for parade-viewing. The Constitutional issues of freedom of assembly and of use of public rights-of-way are fascinating. It’s supposed to be a short process, with a definite outcome. There are huge opportunities to entice citizens who wouldn’t otherwise engage in civic discussions to be involved not just in this one but in others, if they find this one productive — Commissioner Leonard says this is a topic on which he’s received far more input than others. There were 97 comments on the OregonLive blog post on the issue – many more than I’ve seen for topics I’d consider more important. And perhaps the most enticing aspect of this issue is that nobody’s life will be irreparably damaged, whatever the Council adopts in the new policy. So many City issues involve millions of dollars, and huge ongoing impacts on real people. It will be fun to help fix something that isn’t so important in the grand scheme of things.

In essence, this little issue illustrates what civilization is all about. We figure out rules for our society based reaching some sort of consensus about what constitutes “OK behavior” and “Not OK behavior”. Some are really important, others not so much. For the most part, people live by the norms of society, without additional incentives or punishment. The very fact that Portlanders were politely accepting that a piece of duct tape on a public sidewalk bestowed some kind of rights over that land for the duration of the parade, shows we generally try to respect each other. In some cases, perhaps too much. City code regulations either make the accepted standards clear and well known, or attempt to change traditional norms/rules into ones that are fairer, safer, or more desirable in some other way. I think that’s A Good Thing.