I saw a cute use of AI by our friends at Fairgrounds Inn, keying off the news story of zebras on the loose. This is a good use of the technology for promotion...Businesses depend on getting customer eyes on their product...
I was chatting with a member of the city's regulatory class the other day and he told me about a shoe store chain wanting to locate on Arsenal Street and they needed a larger sign than the silly sign ordinance allows....I was told no that can't happen..... The sanctity of the street... Recall the Town nonsense over Dave's Hot Chicken,,..
It's a commercial street and not Loomus Drive....People depend on signage to find what they need and retailers need to garner attention....Advertising in mass media is not practice or affordable for small retail.
Note to the regulatory class...Commercial property, square foot for square foot, creates more property tax revenue than residential or vacant. Commercial enterprises create jobs, attract people to town and generate the blessed sales tax that props up the City and all the towns bragging about no town tax.
The regulatory class had a hay day in the Olney era with their new zoning code and the stripping of approval from elected officials..
Be nice to see a slate of three run next year on a platform of clipping the wings of the regulatory class and eliminating or making appropriate various regulations.
21 comments:
You had 20 years to change the sign ordinance, Jeff. Why didn't you?
I had a wonderful lunch in the park it was booming It was nice to see had arts jug pizza very enjoyable.
Jessie Watters Show/Fox News guest Andrew Klavan: “If women are not homemakers, the only role they have left is as sex objects and workers”
“Women have made themselves obsolete. [...] if every female doctor and CEO disappeared, the world would be exactly the same.”
You never made a move to clip the wings of the regulatory class when you were in office. You liked the city planer and unelected planning board calling the shots and the unelected ZBA determining that the car dealership mogul built a stone wall that is not a structure and not a fence. But that Jake’s personal fence was illegal. You had the opportunity to fix the code that made Jake’s fence illegal and you chose not to while saying if he had only groveled to you first you would have had a different opinion.
Sadly with all the shrubbery course work the planners took at Cornell, they never had time to learn about sign sizes and traffic speeds. If they had, they would recognize the need for larger signs on Arsenal Street where the traffic averages at about 50 MPH.
I cannot understand why anyone would want to use poor animal images for there benefit I hope they burn in hell so sad what AI is being used for now.
Jeff, on this one I largely agree with you.
But I have to take exception to the reference to the “Olney era” as though I was somehow an ally of the regulatory mentality you're criticizing. I wasn't. In fact, I spent a fair amount of my time on Council fighting it.
The zoning rewrite began before I took office, but it was completed while I was there and I participated actively in those work sessions. My objective was not to create another layer of bureaucracy. It was to take as much politics as possible out of individual development decisions.
Too often, a legitimate project would come before City Council, and the question became who politically liked it or disliked it rather than whether the project could reasonably be made to work.
I believed—and still believe—that there should be a predictable professional process. Does the project benefit the community? Does it meet reasonable standards? Are there legitimate problems that can be corrected? If so, fix the problems and help get the project across the finish line.
I supported Stewart's on Washington Street when others wanted to stop it. I supported restaurants, new housing, treatment facilities and other private and nonprofit investment.
I fought Code Enforcement over sandwich-board signs because I thought telling small businesses they couldn't put a sign on the sidewalk advertising today's lunch special was regulation getting in the way of commerce rather than protecting the public.
The problem is that a professional review system only works if the boards doing the reviewing are actually independent.
If appointed boards become populated according to political loyalties or somebody's preferred development philosophy, then we haven't removed politics at all—we've simply moved it from the elected Council table to an unelected board.
That's where I think reform is warranted.
Planning and zoning serve legitimate purposes. I'm not interested in eliminating them. I'm interested in regulations that solve actual problems, boards that judge applications fairly, and a City government whose first instinct when someone wants to invest in Watertown is “How can we make this work?” rather than “How can we stop it?”
And yes—if a shoe store on Arsenal Street needs a somewhat larger sign so customers can actually find the place, I think we'll survive.
Cliff Olney
Ugh... Just STFU, Cliffie. 🥱
Obama, 9:03?
Simply put, the "Olney era" was a disaster. No body wanted to work with him.
Watch out for the used needles.
Clinton, 1:17?
The car dealership mogul pays his taxes, 10:39.
Cliffie? Still got that man crush going on , 1:04?
July 13, 2026: The Trump administration signs a 5-year deal with private prison company GEO Group to operate ICE detention centers
July 16-July 31, 2026: GEO Group donates $1.4 million to Trump's Super PAC
Jeff, why do let TDS sufferers like 7:00 post facts... uh, I mean lies on your blog. Very UN-American of you. Some might say you're a commie. I wouldn't, but many do.
Jeff Graham
Self proclaimed Media and Advertising Expert
(just don’t ask him how to reboot a computer)
You sure are quick to defend him, 6:29. It would appear you are the one who has a thing for him.
Not that there's anything wrong with that.
Where are you picnicing, 1:39? Pearl St area?
Aww, poor you, 6:16. Not defending him, just strange that you use sweet nicknames for the guy.
Not that there's anything wrong with that. 🤭
Or stream channels on his 6 tvs.
It's 2026, 7:54. You can keep openly defending your buddy. Only the closeted MAGAs will judge you. 😉
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