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Forum Home  |  Living La Vida Tacoma  |  Tacoma's Growth & Development

Clear Channel Billboard Fine Counter


by KevinFreitas
on 9/12/2007 @ 1:32pm

That's right, Clear Channel is racking up over $23,000 a day in fines owed to the City of Tacoma for over 180 billboard that violate a City code that went into effect Aug. 1, 2007.

Add this counter to your blog using the code snippet below and let Clear Channel know that fines matter.



Thanks to RR for the idea!

by AP
on 9/12/2007 @ 2:23pm		I'm adding this to my websites, ASAP. Great idea.

by KevinFreitas
on 9/12/2007 @ 3:29pm		The question is, what should we spend these funds on once they pay up?

by Erik
on 9/12/2007 @ 5:04pm		Nice. Looking forward to seeing the counter on Feed Tacoma.

by NineInchNachos
on 9/12/2007 @ 5:26pm		most triumphant mr. F!

by Erik
on 9/12/2007 @ 6:32pm		Your link on Exit 133 forum to the counter does not appear to be working RR.

by jenyum
on 9/12/2007 @ 6:56pm		Looks like it went over 1 million today, how fitting.

by Erik
on 9/12/2007 @ 8:09pm		Ok. Cool. The fine counter is working. Once it gets to $40,000,000, we can restore the Winthrop Hotel.

by NineInchNachos
on 9/12/2007 @ 9:06pm		if the gritty city folks were really hardcore they'd put it on their website.

Clear Channel meets Street Justice, t-town style!

by KevinFreitas
on 9/12/2007 @ 10:16pm		That would be so cool. Why not? Everyone from the Mayor to Council Members has shown nothing but support for enforcing those billboard codes.

by Erik
on 9/13/2007 @ 12:57am		It would be cool to rent a billboard to have a running count going....does anyone know who might have a billboard to rent for this purpose?.......nevermind.

by KevinFreitas
on 9/13/2007 @ 6:50am		I could probably come up with a PDF version of this. That way it could be big enough for folks to print out and post where ever they see fit. It could read: "As of (today's date) Clear Channel owes Tacoma ..."

by andrewbacon
on 9/13/2007 @ 8:17am		Awesome Kevin :-) I'll use this wherever I can!

by jenyum
on 9/13/2007 @ 9:18am		You know, Transit Advertising is super cheap and doesn't go through clear channel...

You could buy up a few bus shelters.

by Erik
on 9/18/2007 @ 12:12am		You know, Transit Advertising is super cheap and doesn't go through clear channel...

How about if we hire some Tacomans and have them hold up reader boards and spin the signs.

by TheMushroom
on 9/18/2007 @ 11:02pm		I've got it on my blog now. Excellent!

by NineInchNachos
on 12/30/2007 @ 2:12pm		3 million and counting. zoiks.

by AP
on 12/30/2007 @ 11:12pm		What's the current story with this Clear Channel situation? Has anyone heard anything since they took down all those stupid Constitutions Matter billboards all over town a few months ago? I would love to know if any fines have actually been paid.

by Erik
on 12/30/2007 @ 11:31pm		No update. The case is being litigated in federal court.

by KevinFreitas
on 12/31/2007 @ 7:10am		I've heard from a litigating squirrel in my attic that some of the billboards along the freeway aren't going to be subject to removal. Sounds like the City is learning a bit about its boundaries in this case but that there's still plenty of opportunity to get rid of billboards in our neighborhoods and such.

by NineInchNachos
on 12/31/2007 @ 9:43am		at least there is still hope

by Erik
on 12/31/2007 @ 9:45am		I''ve heard from a litigating squirrel in my attic that some of the billboards along the freeway aren't going to be subject to removal.

True. The largest billboards which are recent are on land owned by the tribe. Hence, they have gambling billboards and other activities now banned in the city.

Then there are different classifications of billboards in Tacoma. The ones by the highway are covered under a federal law and have their own compensation formula.

Even if CC does everything the city wants, some of the billboards would still stay.

I certainly agree that removing them from the neighborhood centers is the highest priority,

at least there is still hope

Tacoma can prevail on the billboards and remove them. However, its going to likely take a good amount of compensation to do so.

by morgan
on 1/8/2009 @ 12:44am		It's good to know we're not alone - this is huge news:

U.S. court upholds L.A. ban on billboards -
The U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals reverses a lower-court ruling, saying the city's 2002 prohibition of outdoor advertising does not violate a sign company's 1st Amendment right to free speech.

Check out the full story - it's a good read: www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-billboa...

BTW: I have an idea on how to use that $12M Clear Channel owes us!

by fredo
on 1/8/2009 @ 9:45am		It's worth pointing out that code violations are rampant in the city of Tacoma. For example, if you trim a tree growing on city right of way without first obtaining a permit you can be cited with a $1000 fine.This sort of trimming occurs all the time but no one ever gets the $1000 fine. The billboard violations are the more obvious than the illegal tree trimming, but just as unlikely to ever result in any actual fines.

by Crenshaw Sepulveda
on 1/8/2009 @ 10:41am		Constitutions Matter.

by marumaruyopparai
on 1/8/2009 @ 12:44pm		Hey Morgan, that link seems to be broken.

I think that because RR has been such an outspoken proponent of Clear Channel billboard annihilation that a portion of the proceeds from litigation of Clear Channel (assuming there will be proceeds) should be used to cover some or all of the publishing costs of RR's upcoming book.

by deeble interactive
on 1/8/2009 @ 9:41pm		you're supposed to get a permit if you want to swap out an old bathroom sink. makes me sick.

You can rebel.

next time you install a bathroom sink... install the HELL OUT OF THAT BATHROOM SINK! don't get a permit! SCREW the liberal douche bags!

by KevinFreitas
on 8/18/2009 @ 7:05am		Still ticking away...

Shame too 'cause we could really use some of that Clear Channel cash money to prevent that berm from going in. Or, hey, to shore up the Luzon!

by fredo
on 8/18/2009 @ 7:34am		Kevin I know the billboards are ugly but I look at the Richards collection pictures (Tacoma Public Library) once in a while. Frequently the most interesting photographs are the street scenes with billboards. The billboards illustrate products long since forgotten and help establish an approximate date of the photograph. I'd rather see a classic billboard advertising a 1957 Vespa than another clump of signs that proclaim "i'm an ignoramus...vote for me."

by jenyum
on 8/18/2009 @ 7:42am		Alternatively, we could just use the billboards themselves to shore up the Luzon.

I'm sure RR could draw up some plans.

by fredo
on 8/18/2009 @ 7:57am		Right on Jeny- Don't forget to remind folks that this is election day. Vote early and vote often.

by KevinFreitas
on 8/18/2009 @ 12:27pm		@fredo - Just because documenting history and noting it in that way may be interesting doesn't mean we have to repeat it. There are plenty of other ways we're barraged with ads these days and if it helps to clean up and make our neighborhoods more livable and attractive not to have them, so be it.

Aside from that, Clear Channel is in violation of City Code and should pay their fines just as any small business owner in violation of a code would be required (and pressured) to do.

by NineInchNachos
on 8/18/2009 @ 12:59pm		one of the things Glintz was worried about was the expense of steel for the new interior structure.... funny cartoon concept.

by Erik
on 8/18/2009 @ 1:06pm		I wish I knew the status of the billboard litigation.

Last time I heard, it was still pending in federal court.

by panachronic
on 8/18/2009 @ 2:44pm		I seriously doubt if the city will ever collect a dime of this money, for numerous reasons. If nothing else, they'll use it as a bargaining chip to settle the lawsuit out of court.

But the counter, btw, is a work of genius. Thanks!

by NineInchNachos
on 8/18/2009 @ 3:02pm		whenever anyone says 'where will the money come from' i immediately think of this fine counter. Oh pie in the sky :)

by fredo
on 8/18/2009 @ 6:41pm		Kevin- It's had to judge the future historic value of a contemporary item. Back in the caveman days there were probably people who thought that the petroglyphs were trash. But in today's world we find great value in them and protect them like the treasures they are. Are today's billboards the equivalent of the petroglyphs? Perhaps not, but we can't tell from our perspective. For the record I think the billboards are ugly.

by Thorax O'Tool
on 8/18/2009 @ 8:48pm		The year: 900,000,000 AD. The human race has evolved to have greater intelligence and sentience. We've put aside our differences, pooled our resources and have taken to the stars. Across the Orion Arm of the Milky Way, fifty trillion people inhabit a panstellar civilization with astonishing advancements in science, culture and technology.

Naturally, humans are as curious as ever. Regular expeditions back to the homeworld of Earth are carried out so that we may learn about our forefathers, and thus about ourselves.

One bright day beneath the sweltering red giant Sun, a party excavates the ruins of the great cultural centers of what was the Northwest, before the Chinese baked it with alpha and beta particles.
Beneath the rubble once called Tacoma, RRAnderous Prime unearths a sign. He calls over his colleagues, and they stare in awe at the discovery.

"It is amazing" says RRAnderous. "Here we have a rare chance to read a message from the past!"

"It is indeed amazing" says Beta-Morganus. "It truly must be something meaningful, as the Ancients left so little for us to find."

"Yes", replies Freitatron-88 Alpha. "I long to see what wisdom the Ancients may pass on to us, as the Originals passed on to them. But I do not have the upgrade needed to read it."

"I will read it" speaks Thorsus-Omni-Trifid. Using his universal translation retinal implants he reads the near-billion year old words aloud for the first time in forty-million generations:

"It's Comcastic".

by fredo
on 8/18/2009 @ 8:55pm		Thorax...inspired!

by Thorax O'Tool
on 8/18/2009 @ 8:56pm		Thanks!
Read enough Asimov, and you'll get the sci-fi juices flowing too!

by NineInchNachos
on 8/18/2009 @ 9:13pm		how come my robot clone doesn't get a cool greek number?

by fredo
on 8/18/2009 @ 9:15pm		How much will Clear Channel owe the city in the year 900,000,000 AD?

by jenyum
on 8/18/2009 @ 11:57pm		I refuse to read any more of the first wave scifi authors. They promised me robot servants. It's 2009 and there's no sign of my laundry robot.

by fredo
on 8/19/2009 @ 6:29am		Jen@ that laundry isn't real, its just a simulation.

by KevinFreitas
on 8/19/2009 @ 7:10am		@fredo: 7 quadrillion, 678 trillion, 687 billion dollars. Not including leap days or interest. :)

by Thorax O'Tool
on 8/19/2009 @ 7:30pm		@ RR... it's not a robot. It's your highly-evolved cyborg future descendant. And Prime when used in the same context as in the She-Ra universe indicates the leader... think like Horde Prime.

And Jen... we have vacuuming and lawn mowing robots.
Forget the laundry. I want my hoverboard. Where is it? 2015 is almost here...

by NineInchNachos
on 1/30/2010 @ 3:34pm		this money could help fill alot of budget pot-holes AND plenty left to fix schools.

by jenyum
on 1/30/2010 @ 6:30pm		Any update on this? It's been years.

by Thorax O'Tool
on 1/30/2010 @ 7:32pm		I have heard zilch.

And those billboards keep standing.

I'd like to see someone run for Mayor/Council on the platform of removing all the offending billboards regardless of the court case. If T-Town wins, Clear Channel et al can come pick up their signs after they pay the fines.
If Clear Channel wins, they can come pay the fines, pick up and reinstall their signs at 100% cost to them.
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