Staff column: Volunteers work hard to make cities beautiful; why mar it with profanity?

A question was brought up during the Ottawa Historic Commissions meeting on Thursday: What can be done about profanity-laden yard signs and flags?

After a brief discussion, it was decided the city wouldn’t have much legal ground to stand and the topic would get politicized rather than lead to any real change. Instead, board members were left to vent frustrations about the signs. They were clear, though: Their frustrations have little to do with the messages of the signs themselves.

Their frustrations start with the fact this is a board made up of volunteers who love their community and work hard toward making it beautiful while reflecting on its rich heritage.

“It’s not about political belief,” said Paul Havelka, who serves on the historic commission. “We have this image of Ottawa that it’s quaint, idyllic and loaded with history. There are all these assets to the town that we want to show off and use to the betterment of the community. That’s part of our job.”

Much of what makes Ottawa’s aesthetic is accomplished by volunteers who take time out of their lives to give back to their city by helping keep up on landscaping at the parks, cleaning up trash or volunteering on boards.

Havelka said when Bob Eschbach was mayor, he worked hard to make sure things improved and the city’s aesthetic really changed: Historic districts started the preservation with the Lincoln-Douglas statues, street lamps and all the planters.

“We’ve done all these things to make the city look better and then some guy puts a flag up that says [expletive] on it,” Havelka said. “I get that things turn political and I understand the message he’s sending but why are we doing all this work? It’s a kick in the gut.”

Havelka’s right, too, and that’s not where the frustrations stop. These flags and yard signs appear near schools, churches and parks. Regardless of political belief, there’s no reason children should have to look at profanity, even if some of them do hear it at home.

It takes countless volunteer hours (at a meeting a few weeks ago, Mayor Dan Aussem estimated the number was in the thousands) to make Ottawa a place everyone wants to live.

Just a couple of weeks ago, the volunteers who help make Ottawa a beautiful place to live met at City Hall to discuss what could be done to get more volunteers in the door. Ottawa’s spirit of volunteerism was credited as one of the city’s strengths in its updated comprehensive plan and was cited as a reason for why the city finished second in the America in Bloom competition.

And this issue is not limited to Ottawa, it could be had anywhere in La Salle County, but it’s where the conversation came to the forefront of a public meeting.

This frustration has little to do with national politics. It’s about taking pride in the community. People can feel however they want about the current president and convey that message without sending their profane thoughts to the public.

• Michael Urbanec is a staff reporter at The Times. He covers Ottawa’s city government.