Huntington Beach sign spinners

According to the LA Times, Huntington Beach has stuck to it's guns when it comes to sign spinners.

Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times

Carlos Soto, left, and Ricardo Marin spin signs in Costa Mesa. Huntington Beach officials say the practice is too distracting to drivers, and one city councilman calls the ads “a form of visual blight.”

The recent economic decline caused the Huntington Beach Planning Commission to revisit the ban they had previously placed on sign spinners. while the planning commission supported allowing the sign spinners, City Council members weren't convinced. It appears that the drop in sales and the decline of employment wasn't enough to convince Surf City officials that sign spinning might be a boon right now. According to Surf City officials, "the twirlers, many equipped with flashy moves or costumes, are just too distracting to drivers". And Councilman Don Hansen, whom described sign twirlers as "a form of visual blight," claimed that "The signs are just getting larger and almost more obnoxious. I hope we're not leveraging our hope of economic growth on the backs of the sign-twirling industry," Hansen said. "I don't think that's our way out; I don't think that's the job that most folks are pinning their hopes on."


Whether hopes are pinned on such jobs are not, it would seem that it simply isn't in the cards for Huntington Beach residents and neither is this cheap form of advertising. Personally, I would think that anything with the remote possibility of helping the community survive - the city thrive and flourish- should become a tolerated possibility. In these trying and lean times every dollar counts. If that means staring at gorillas on street corners or watching Lady Liberty wave, I'd say it's a small price to pay.

Gwynn~

For the whole story visit the LA Times.
Original story by Susannah Rosenblatt
February 6, 2009