Newton’s Law?

Newton’s Third Law is: For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction.

This truth of physics apparently also applies to the city’s response
to Open House signs around town this weekend with over a hundred
confiscations according to the city staff I spoke with earlier today.

How did we get here?

It begins (in my opinion) with aggressive tactics of a handful of
agents who have polluted the streets with dozens of signs for one Open
House, leaving signage out over night on purpose and refusing to
follow the guidelines and rules the city has openly posted.

Then, the city responds with a sweeping mandate over this past
weekend. As I drove to my Open House this Sunday I noticed the Public
Works truck taking indiscriminate action and removing every sign off
the street whether it was placed properly or the home owner had given
permission for its placement. According to the city employees that
were driving the truck, they had direction to pick up any and all
signs but would not remove those that were on someone personal
property (cars).

Who is hurt by this action and reaction? Everyone. Who is hurt most?
Buyers and Sellers who count on these opportunities to learn about the
local inventory and introduce their homes to the market.

Former Monrovia City Manager Scott Ochoa once told me at a public
forum that the city’s relationship with REALTORS was healthy because
we did a good job of policing ourselves. Has that eroded in the last
few years? Perhaps it has and this weekend shows me that we need to
speak up and talk to our colleagues and/or their brokers about these
matters.

To the city I would ask them to train staff on policy and cease these
wide sweeps that hurt us all.

Monrovia’s strength (as I know it) is that citizens here look out for
one another and tend to compromise and find better answers.

Let’s no overreact. Nobody wins in that scenario.

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