Monahan's Banner Is Gone!
FINALLY!...
Well, I guess long time city council member Gary Monahan has decided to follow at least one of our municipal rules.
TWO MONTHS OF VIOLATION
Finally, after nearly two months of blatantly displaying an illegal banner along the Newport Blvd. frontage of his pub, today just before noon, I drove past his place while running errands and discovered that it is gone!
RULES ARE FOR OTHERS
One can assume many things in this situation. First, we know for sure that he thinks the rules are for someone else. That's a given, since he recently proposed to his peers on the City Council that they
cut Costa Mesa business owners some slack when it came to enforcement of sign and banner rules. He thought that, in these tough times, the business owners needed ever advantage they could get. He might have been accurate, but his peers rejected his idea on a 4-1 vote.
THUMBED HIS NOSE
That didn't dissuade Monahan, though. He went right ahead and put up his offending sign and left it there for almost two months, virtually thumbing his nose (or worse) to the city and his fellow council members before finally tearing it down.
I find myself wondering if he paid the $75.00 fine for the first month...
RIGHT THING - WRONG REASON
I'd like to think that Gary discovered the error of his ways and realized that he was setting a bad example for a current councilman and former mayor. I'd like to think that, but I don't. Nope, I think the pressure finally got to him, so he decided to take the banner down and replace it with a flock of flags. I have no idea if they are legal or not. In the spirit of the holidays I'm willing to cut him some slack on the flags.
THIS JUST SEEMS TOO APPROPRIATE
It seems somehow very appropriate, considering Monahan's removal of the banner, to leave you with this season-appropriate video clip.
Well, I guess long time city council member Gary Monahan has decided to follow at least one of our municipal rules.
TWO MONTHS OF VIOLATION
Finally, after nearly two months of blatantly displaying an illegal banner along the Newport Blvd. frontage of his pub, today just before noon, I drove past his place while running errands and discovered that it is gone!
YESTERDAY
TODAY
RULES ARE FOR OTHERS
One can assume many things in this situation. First, we know for sure that he thinks the rules are for someone else. That's a given, since he recently proposed to his peers on the City Council that they
cut Costa Mesa business owners some slack when it came to enforcement of sign and banner rules. He thought that, in these tough times, the business owners needed ever advantage they could get. He might have been accurate, but his peers rejected his idea on a 4-1 vote.THUMBED HIS NOSE
That didn't dissuade Monahan, though. He went right ahead and put up his offending sign and left it there for almost two months, virtually thumbing his nose (or worse) to the city and his fellow council members before finally tearing it down.
I find myself wondering if he paid the $75.00 fine for the first month...
RIGHT THING - WRONG REASON
I'd like to think that Gary discovered the error of his ways and realized that he was setting a bad example for a current councilman and former mayor. I'd like to think that, but I don't. Nope, I think the pressure finally got to him, so he decided to take the banner down and replace it with a flock of flags. I have no idea if they are legal or not. In the spirit of the holidays I'm willing to cut him some slack on the flags.
THIS JUST SEEMS TOO APPROPRIATE
It seems somehow very appropriate, considering Monahan's removal of the banner, to leave you with this season-appropriate video clip.
HANDEL'S HALLELUJAH CHORUS
Labels: Banners, Gary Monahan
posted by The Pot Stirrer at 12/08/2009 02:01:00 PM
9 Comments:
And this is why this blog site is the best in the business. THANK YOU, A Bubbling Cauldron!!!! You were the only media outlet that ran this story and you stayed on it with great tenacity. I think you are owed all the credit here for correcting Gary's wrong. Thank you, thank you and another big thank you. Great work.
St. Louis Rams, you're much, much too kind. You know, I actually agreed with his suggestion to cut the business owners some slack on signs and banners on a temporary basis. But, his peers said NO! emphatically, so he should have followed the rules. Thanks, again, for reading...
Agreed with St. Louis Rams - glad the banner is down...and I'm still a Rams fan, too...go figure - (not so) great minds think alike...
MVM, would those be the Kurt Warner Rams, or the Vince Ferragamo Rams?
I don't agree with Monahan politically, think he was clearly in the wrong here, but I vote for him all the time. Allow me to indulge a story.
When Skosh's was in it's infancy, my wife and I popped by for dinner. Ran into some friends and one glass of wine turned into a few bottles. I was wise enough to take a taxi home and leave my car in the lot. Came back the next day and it was towed. The guy at the Growers was very apologetic, but it was infront of an area where he was getting deliveries that morning. There was a sign that said no overnight parking, but it was obscured by one on top of it advertising a sale on artichokes.
I wrote Gary a letter saying it was really everybodys fault...mine, his, and Growers for not making this more obvious. I told him hopefully he can do something so nobody else will be stuck with a $150 tow bill.
Got a letter back in a couple weeks saying that Growers has agreed to not advertise their sales on top of the sign, and they will increase the wording size so people will be aware there's no overnight parking. Then he gave me a $50 gift certificate hoping I would come back to his restaurant. AND, a $150 personal check paying for the tow.
We couldn't be more 180 degrees away from each other political-wise, but he will always get my vote on his show of character.
Honeyman, nice story. Bet you didn't think I would print it. I've never said Gary wasn't a good businessman. His gesture on your behalf will keep you coming back to his pub and retaining your vote. Sounds like a good investment.
Woulda lost that bet, Geoff....I never had you pegged as a censorer.
And I was even gonna mention to Monahan the way I felt about the sign (only aware of it from you) but last time I was in his restaurant was the only time I didn't see him there.
BTW, I'm a Detroit Lions fan, so take my opinion for whjat that's worth.
Keep up the good work.
Honeyman, A Lions fan! Sometimes the price of loyalty is pain and disappointment. Keep the faith - things can only get better. Thanks for your comments.
John Hadl and Ron Jaworski were more my era (Namath and Bert Jones -go figure), at least growing up...Roman Gabriel was a bit too early!
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