Travis County Commssioners Court
October 1, 2002
The Closed Caption log for this Commissioners Court agenda item is provided by Travis County Internet Services. Since this file is derived from the Closed Captions created during live cablecasts, there are occasional spelling and grammatical errors. This Closed Caption log is not an official record the Commissioners Court Meeting and cannot be relied on for official purposes. For official records please contact the County Clerk at (512) 854-4722.
Agenda Item 3
Now, number 3 is to approve proclamation recognizing the city of Austin's "great city sign off." And -- ms. Pope with -- with rsvp.>> yes, good morning, judge.
>> ms. Wright who used to be with us, but moved on up and is now with the federal government. [ laughter ]
>> city of Austin.
>> she moved way up. [ laughter ] it reads: whereas the city of Austin is sponsoring its great city sign-off on October 12th, 2002, whereas the great city sign-off is the first opportunity to involve citizens and community groups from across the city to help the city remove illegal signs from the right-of-way, the city and all of its residents, whereas in addition to the city's code enforcement officer trained citizens volunteers will help remove signs and fliers, that have been illegally posted and none of those by elected officials, i'm sure. [ laughter ]
>> absolutely not.
>> whereas a dedicated involvement of the retired and senior volunteer program, lone star girl scout council, keep Austin beautiful volunteers and the Austin police department volunteers and policing group contribute greatly to public education about illegal signs and their removal and whereas we commend the city of Austin in all community organizations pars approximate operating in the great city sign-off for taking an active role in preserving and protecting the beauty of public property. Now therefore be it resolved that we the members of the Travis County commissioners court do here by encourage all residents to support and help maintain the beautiful environment for which Travis County and Austin are renowned. I move approval.
>> second.
>> good morning.
>> good morning.
>> good morning, thank you for the opportunity again. I'm cora wright, the assistant director for the neighborhood planning and zoning department with the city of Austin. And a major partner in the great city sign-off which is planned for this coming off the 12th, the morning of, at palm park. I'm basically here this morning to thank you, judge Biscoe and the commissioners court and donna and the members of the retired senior and volunteer program for all of the commitment and support that you have shown for this -- this particular event. You may not be aware that -- that the neighborhood planning and zoning department is a department who is responsible for enforcing the city's housing and zoning codes. And one of the zoning codes has to do with the sign ordinance and this is an ordinance that really regulates how we use the public right-of-way. And in this case, it's an ordinance that's been on the books for over 20 years, just about 20 years, not a new law, it's an old law, which basically prohibits the use of temporary or any temporary sign in the public right-of-way, of course, unless it's a traffic sign or a sign that controls pedestrian traffic. The great city signoff is really one of five major components of what we are calling a comprehensive code enforcement initiative and without the help of keep Austin beautiful, who is a lead agency and Travis County, who has offered so many resources and donna, i can't say thank you enough, for this event. We are going to be able to enlist the help of many volunteers throughout the city, not just the retired senior volunteers, but people across the city. And our one goal, it's very simple, that is to increase the awareness throughout the city that putting signs in the right-of-way is -- is prohibited by the code and that it is there to protect the safety of all of us, all motorists and pedestrians who have to navigate the right-of-way. So i want to thank you all individually and also Travis County collectively and particularly donna and rosy cortez for the help and support that they have shown for this event. It's going to be a great day.
>> thank you.
>> well, i would like to thank you all for your continued support for for rsvp and giving us this opportunity to collaborate with other agencies and combine human and financial resources in a time when we are all looking to -- to continue to do special events and projects that aren't in our budget. This is an opportunity that i would like to invite each one of you personally if you are available to come out on the 1,212th, that's Saturday after next, and if -- if any of you are 55 or older, i would also invite you to sign up with the retired and senior volunteer program. This would be a wonderful opportunity, sorry -- [ laughter ] -- commissioner Sonleitner i know that leaves you out, but this would be a wonderful opportunity to not only help us promote rsvp, but as well as volunteer work that you are doing. This is going to be a tremendous opportunity for the public to be aware of the code ordinance and in a fun way work with girl scouts, we will have over 100 girl scouts here. Rosy couldn't be here today, but these girl scouts will be earning a patch with the great sign-off logo. We look forward to a fun time, we look forward to seeing you there.
>> thank you. Even if our volunteers unwittingly place a campaign sign in the right-of-way that clashes with the ordinance --
>> that's correct.
>> -- even if we believe that we looked at the sign -- that the sign actually explements the beauty, it still slash -- complements the beauties, it still clashes with the ordinance.
>> on that day we plan to do kind of an amnesty plan. Our goal that day is really to get the world out and to increase awareness, so the sign that's we might find that are in the right-of-way we are going to try to hold for a few days so if people want to claim those signs back, we will do that. But it's all intended to get the word out that we really need everyone's help to make sure that the public right-of-ways remain safe for everyone.
>> this is really backing up, there have been a lot of unsung heroes on this years. For shudde fath and her daughter used to do this for years and years and years, wayne and sandy tobias in north Austin, skip cameron in northwest. So it's nice to see that it's all coming together and -- and -- as the signoff.
>> absolutely.
>> and that's something that i enjoy the day after election. Go out and take my signs down.
>> take them down --
>> even from the yards where i have permission to put them up in.
>> well, thank you.
>> thank you all for your support.
>> wind up --
>> thank you.
>> > all in favor? That passes by unanimous vote.
>> thank you all.
Last Modified: Wednesday, April 2, 2003 10:25 AM