Saturday, May 5th, 2007 ::: "Street Furniture"

This is Liam O’Doherty’s Publicspaceinvasion, which he read to the Mayor and Executive Committee on Monday:

Good afternoon, Mr Mayor & Executive Committee
Some thoughts ‘fore you alter our beautiful city
Though I’m merely a scholar at the old U of T
Who labours in matters of sustainability

What will come of our streets, our public realm
With a billion dollar juggernaut at the helm?
They’ll control our environment - a 20 year lease
Complete with a square footage ad increase
I know that the City’s funds are tight
But something here is just not right

You aim to reduce unsightly street clutter
With supplies from a corporate cookie cutter
The lines may be smooth, the stuff looks pretty
But it ruins our standing as the greenest city
There be bells and whistles and unneeded functions
Which will augment our rocketing hydro consumption
Lumination of ad space seems rather archaic
When we should be relying on photovoltaic
It apppear’s this committee’s fateful decision
Will augment municipal carbon emissions

Space Age Toilets, oh how APT
And billboards that distribute maps
Don’t be fooled now Mr Miller
These are billboards dressed as info pillars
They may slightly resemble our City Hall
But this building is not what I see at all.
Their purpose is profit, information a pretence
For branding the street and the maps they dispense

As for Astral’s track record, let’s conduct a review
of the Biz who sees streets as a source of revenue
Some of their history is rather malign
For they’ve oft operated illegal signs
They don’t obey by-laws. No - what do they do?
They bring out their lawyers, they threaten to sue
A sordid relation with activist groups
They hide from their follies behind legal troops.

What kind of a standard will we seek to uphold?
For how much will our streets and our sidewalks be sold?
Four hundred million? Name your price
Let’s sell the lot, to Corporate Vice!
Perchance we should manage our own public space
With contracts awarded at a much slower pace
Keep control of our commons, the public domain
Save our streets from a twenty year advert campaign
Let’s reject such a binding and long-term solution.
Which proliferates air-borne and visual pollution.

In May 2006, Liam read this poem to the Works Committee.

A curious thing in the latest edition of the NRU: “little notice was paid to the fact fairness commissioner Coulter Osborne, who monitored the street furniture bid process, issued report along with a confidential legal opinion that completely supported the equitable nature of the bid.” How does NRU know what is in the confidential legal opinion?