It’s a sign of the times, or at least a political sign of the times. As surely as elections follow campaigns, the newly elected officials see their names on government signs and photos in public buildings as the spoils of victory.
It’s never been more obvious than in the past 10 months as a half dozen different mayors have held city and county offices. No one has been busier in local government than the sign painters, as name after name has been changed on an array of public signs.
It’s a mystery only known to the vagaries of the political mind exactly why the signs for the Shelby County prison, codes enforcement, public works, and other buildings in the complex on Mullins Station Road have to bear the name of the county mayor. However, shortly after interim mayor Joe Ford took office, all the paint brushes came out and his name was put on sign after sign.
No Bouquets
But he’s just carrying on tradition. It’s been happening long before he took office and City of Memphis is no better.
It’s become so expected that a few years ago when the Center City Commission put up signs for downtown sidewalk improvements, they drew praise for the mere fact that they did not bear the names of any elected official. The Riverfront Development Corporation did the same early on, but with Beale Street Landing, it went back to tradition with much of the construction sign devoted to the names of the Memphis mayor and City Council.
There was a time in county government when there were almost a dozen signs bearing the county mayor’s name on Walnut Grove Road through Shelby Farms. With his name constantly before them, motorists trapped in rush hour gridlock were so mad at the mayor by the time they got to work, complaint calls climbed. The number of signs was quickly reduced.
Before Shelby Farms Park Conservancy took over management of the park, it seemed no sign was immune from having the mayor’s name on it. It reached the level of absurdity when signs outside the fences of the buffalo field said: “American Bison: Jim Rout, Mayor,” later to be replaced by the name of A C Wharton Jr. when he took office.
City Property as Political Property
Back when Dick Hackett was mayor of Memphis, neighborhood watch signs sprung up like mushrooms in neighborhoods all over Memphis, and when he was upset at the polls by Willie W. Herenton a few years later, it produced a massive repainting project to take off the old mayor’s name.
The cost of all this painting and repainting is never known since it’s buried deep in departmental budgets. But it’s no match to the money spent by Chicago Mayor Richard Daley. His name is absolutely everywhere. A good time-killer between flights in O’Hare International Airport is to see how many times you can count his name (make sure you have a calculator).
Or maybe it’s just something about airports. Memphis International Airport not only has a sign with the mayors’ names welcoming visitors to Memphis, but it also posts their professionally photographed, prominently placed portraits; however, it might just be an excuse for Airport Authority members to post their own self-congratulatory photographs. All in all, is a welcome from two mayors the most important welcome to share with visitors? Maybe the welcome should be from the people who actually own the airport – Memphis and Shelby County citizens?
Getting It Right
Some places do a better job of getting it right. Their construction signs don’t have a list of elected and appointed officials, but reflect the obvious: enjoy the street, you’re paying for it. There are even some with humor like a blinking sign in Austin that announced upcoming road construction: Prepare to be annoyed.
The politics of signs and photos surfaced earlier this year when an email with Wharton’s photo was sent to city managers with instructions to get it “framed and posted prominently.” The intent, Wharton advisors say, was to get down all Herenton photos, but if that is so, it was a disastrously written email with all the photo framing feeding charges of government waste
With the surge of populism that characterizes today’s political climate, savvy politicians may find it to their advantage to run for office with a pledge that if there are any photos in public buildings, it will be of taxpayers and there’ll be no names of politicians on construction signs.
There’s no place where symbolism matters more than government and politics, but the reality could be that it just could be a vote getter.
This was previously published as the May City Journal column in Memphis magazine.
How long do I have to preach about this one simple thing? Thank you for picking up the call.
This might be focusing too much on a specific example, but I really like the idea of a few citizens serving as the “welcome committee” at the airport.
My pet peeve has long been street name changes, bridge naming and those brown honorary signs. As a Memphian, I know where I’m going. But visitors lose their minds trying to navigate… and it is UGLY.
Why don’t we replace all of those Elected Official stamps referenced above with our honored citizens, doing away with the other visual clutter in the process? “Welcome to the Shelby County Clerks Office – Patsy Robinson, Honored Citizen.” “Summer Avenue Repaving Made Possible By – Robert Blassingame, Honored Citizen.” This serves as a testimonial to civic pride instead of self-serving campaigning or sucking-up to influential figures.
If I were a deceased reverend (or his family), I might rather see my name temporarily on something official or interesting or under construction than on a brown sign marking the space between the Sonic and Shell Station as my stretch of Milbranch anyway.
I’ll buy the stick-on letters, if anyone else has a ladder.
Amen, John. I remember the time that I found four Scandanavians wandering confusedly down Cooper. I stopped to ask them if I could help, and they said they were trying to stay on Cooper to walk to Central (they were between Poplar and Union at the time) but the name of the street kept changing and they didn’t know where Cooper had gone.
They were reading the honorary signs that litter our landscape and thought Cooper was changing its name every couple of blocks. My favorite ironic honorary sign is for the king of sprawl, Jackie Welch, who has his name on the beautiful, landscaped, winding Humphreys Boulevard.
Poor old Jackie had to sell his office bldg on that street. I drive Humprheys regularly and every time I see that sign with his name on it, I entertain evil fantasies of spray-painting his name out some dark night. What a symbol of local corruption that guy is.
Are you guys trying to criticize signs such as Reverend Dr. Lee R. Brown Street? How about Dr. Harold… sorry, I ran out of patience to type the entire name. Based on a report by Jeni DiPrizio of ABC’s Eyewitness News (Channel 13?) just over a week ago, approximately $130,000 has been spent in the past 10 years on these honorary signs. Seeing as 130 people have been honored by adding confusion to way-finding across the city, that equates to $1,000 per honor bestowed. Council members are limited to 4 name changes per term. So far, Joe Brown has managed to provide no less than 21 sections of different streets in this town with an alternate identity.
I am never the one to give the “will someone please think of the children” war cry, but wouldn’t providing a $1,000 scholarship to some worthy student be a greater honor and have a larger impact on this city than renaming a stretch of Poplar?
Urbanaut, man did you nail it.
Our decrepit leadership is out of touch with the citizens and reality, but, their narcissism is supposed to substitute for leadership.
Is it working?
No?
I support ‘posthumous’ naming of infrastructure.
Particularly if it will hasten the ‘posthumous’ part.
just kidding. of course.