Good Evening Mayor VENEBLE, Deputy Mayor BEAVER &
COUNCILMEMBERS
Tonight I'd like to bring up a subject that I have felt strongly about for some time now. Garage sales in our city and the new rules that the city put into effect last year is not the solution. The origins came from the 16th Century and were called Rummage Sales. They occurred on waterfront docks to sell off damaged or unclaimed freight. It exploded into suburbia in the 1970's with economic downturns. One sign in your yard is ineffective. This has long been, an AMERICAN TRADITION that has served so many for different reasons.
People in general enjoy going to find treasures, affordability, a way to recycle, a supplement to their income, a way to make new friends and meet your neighbors especially when we're in such a busy society. I have watched for years the disrespect some have by posting their signage and then
leave them like trash. Believe me I get that. The city intruded by going around and taking down signs before people had their sales. This penalized those that were responsible by taking their signs down, causing lack of attendance and profit at their sales. Your solution was for ALL to advertise in
the paper and have only 1 sign in their yard. The advertising costs is NOT affordable for many and most don't pay
attention to the ads but rely on clear LARGE signs to lead them to their destination. I myself used to have antique stores and a Gift shop here in town where I would resell my finds and I never looked at the ads in the newspaper... rather looked for signs. That generated tax revenue from my store for the City making it a WIN WIN. I lived in San Clemente for 10 years and their solution was to have neighborhood sales twice a year staggering the dates in different neighborhoods which was successful and was coordinated There were signs put up all over simplifying the hunt. I feel the way it is in Yucaipa now is both unacceptable and hurts those that enjoy doing this. This for many is a need to liquidate items to earn cash. Instead of trying to micro -manage and have signs ripped down, why can't we think outside the box. We are a small town community that would like to continue this social endeavor and meet our neighbors on the weekends.
propose that if signs are left up; THEN and only then should the city take the signs down on Monday and then ticket and fine the people that violate the rules with fines just like we have for e-bikes, weed abatement, fireworks and such. The license for sales should be enforced and is also a way to tell
who had the sale and can be checked accordingly with the signs that were left up bringing a little revenue to the city.
This would then serve many purposes... EASY PEASY! My
very best friend I met when I had one of my sales almost 30 years ago and of my other friends I have met in this same way. LETS THINK OUTSIDE the box and work together to
instill community once again. SIGNS WORK BEST and brings in people that may otherwise not have stopped for the
treasure hunt. I would be willing to work with you to come up with a new policy and a volunteer committee if you are open to this. Please take time to address this and lets see what we can come up with.
thank you all for taking this into consideration.