Seems our own iSign is changing Sign Ordinances

[GypsyGraphics]

Looks like iSign was able to get a sign ordinance changed!

Not that we should be at all surprised to find Doug speaking out... but i just saw this on FaceBook.
The article doesn't go into much detail about how the ordinance was changed, but it looks like iSign played a role. I thought the last two paragraphs had some key points.

I know i wouldn't have thought to try and change a sign ordinance, but since he did, I thought S101 was a better place to talk about it than FB.
Here's a link to the newspaper article that was posted there.

http://www.mauinews.com/page/conten...ges-to-ordinance--a-great-effort-.html?nav=10

 

[CheapVehicleWrap]

Cool deal Doug!

I'm PMing you a list or ordinances and laws I would like you to change.

 

[iSign]

I was actually thinking i would move on to changing drug laws next :Big Laugh

 

[AUTO-FX]

nice work, keep it up. drug laws, huh....what the heck, if you're on a roll !

 

[Firefox]

I was actually thinking i would move on to changing drug laws next :Big Laugh

After reading this I had to go back to the "What's your shop smell like" thread to see what your shop smells like!

 

[iSign]

well, I just got back from an installation & closed the shop.
I didn't take time to say much about this earlier, because I had to run, but I am really pretty stoked about the whole thing!

Also, Thanks for posting this gg!

I put it on FB because I feel like this a great marketing opportunity for me, not in a overt way, but in a more subtle branding of myself as an expert in my field, as well as a community minded team player.

Anyway, I wanted to get an opportunity to have my name seen in connection with the good news today, that resolves a fairly public issue that has been evolving for several months.

I actually tweeted this as well... and I'm sure it's the first tweet in at least 6 months, but you never know when a little marketing blurb can help land a new client & maybe a lifelong & highly desirable client too!

 

[MikePro]

that's awesome, congrats Doug!

I just came back from vacation in Maui, last week... whole time I was wondering who did all the hand-painted stuff, as it seemed to be EVERYWHERE. Never thought any of it was tacky, but I can see why such an ordinance would be in place... as that island is GORGEOUS!


<--jealous!

 

[surf city]

I can't imagine Doug speaking out about anything, he's always so quiet.......lol. Good for you though, it's nice to see people that want to make things change and then actually try to do something about it.

 

[Gino]

Way to go... Doug !! :U Rock:

​

 

[B-RAD Graphics]

GOOD JOB!!!

 

[iSign]

...hey Gino's comment reminded me of something important.

Gino has been involved in some civic procedure type stuff in the past year or two. He had mentioned to me the similarity with experiences he & I shared with 7 other people on a short-lived Signs101 Board of Directors, (not to mention over 6 months in a previous organizational capacity around here)

Anyway, similar to observations Gino had shared with me, I want to comment to him and the members here that I found my experience on the signs 101 Board of Directors to be not only fun, relevant, & meaningful while it took place... I also considered it to be a part of life in a democratic society, and an extremely valuable experience for anyone who might ever wish to become a more influential participant in a democratic society.

There wasn't a tremendous amount of procedure for a civilian to follow, since I was on the outside of the actual democratic process of the legislative body. They held various County Council subcommittee meetings, and full Council meetings, and at each one, "public testimony" was allowed for up to 4 minutes.

The key point I may already have made here is that I found my public service experiences here to have been a great stepping stone to feeling comfortable & well enough informed of the process in my own Government! I believe that greatly improved my ability to craft effective testimony, do the right homework, and prepare realistic proposals.

I will add that I already brought some degree of experience in serving on a Board of Directors, prior to S101, and felt then that those experiences helped me here. Like so many things we do not get good by waiting to be good, we need to get in the game and suffer the learning curve of doing unfamiliar things, if we hope to increase our level of comfort of effectiveness. I would highly recommend active participation in any groups you may ever be involved with. It's easy to let someone else do 'the work' of running an organization. It is often unpaid & unglamorous work, and by nature left to a minority, so the majority of us will never step up and participate in government. Do it! You will not regret it!

 

[showcase 66]

Good for you Doug. One of the near by cities was trying to ban any product signage in windows a while back. Sounded like they wanted to go with what you had before. Also would have included Holiday scenes and things like that. Stupid in my opinion. It never got very far after pretty much every business there came and complained how it would hurt business.

 

[iSign]

Our local window splash painter was standing to lose his entire livelihood, and as such was fairly involved at earlier stages of this process. The final tweak I influenced literally changed the game for him, possibly saving his chances of surviving on this island.

He was not present at the moment of truth, but I was excited to call and tell him I found the chink in the armor & won the most meaningful change we had all fought for. Then I told him he owed me a beer!

He said what do I drink, he would bring me a case & I told him I had been joking, but if he would consider it I had a better idea of a return favor I would like. I told him I would never become "competition" in any real sense, but would he let me shadow him on a job & learn the basics of painting a window splash, and then I would buy the beer! he said he liked that idea!

 

[iSign]

My shop opens in 15 minutes, so I'll be caught up in other work soon, however an interesting comment on FB resulted in my writing a few more details about this process...

...figured I might as well get a bit more mileage out of those comments by pasting them here too:

This was quite a unique scenario, and the recognition of a need for change was widespread, including the County Planning Department that holds jurisdiction over this ordinance.

There has been a slow creep of the status quo drifting into a comfortable area of non-compliance over a 10 year period, followed by a sudden domino effect of 50 ordinance violations in 2 months.

As a complaint driven process, the local inspectors were required to inform these 50 business owners about their non compliance & the result was a public outcry for more lenience in this economy, with regard to signage.

Anyway, the Mayor's office & Maui Chamber of Commerce were involved with holding public meetings, as well as the Planning department. I remained heavily involved throughout the entire process, and influenced 3 earlier proposals (2 of which I wrote) being accepted in the Ordinance Amendment Bill, before being passed forward from the Planning Committee, to the full Council.

What I like calling the Coup de grâce was recognizing that the most valuable proposed change had been somewhat ambitious in it's original language, resulting in it's failure to be accepted at the committee level.

By showing up at the 11th hour, offering public testimony & providing well articulated legal language scaling back the more ambitious proposals of last month, I convinced the full Council to amend the Planning Committee's Bill, at "second and final reading" a mere 5 minutes before the vote to end a 3 month process by Passing the Bill into Law!​