Are you suggesting that you are an interesting distraction?

James Jefferson,

The August primary, and November general election, are great opportunities for getting the attention of incumbants. When officials feel unaccountable, they stop paying attention.

Re: the middle of a roundabout – Yes I had the same thought, if the middle of a roundabout were too lookworthy (for lack of a better word) could it cause a lack of focus. I have been guilty in certain circumstances. But I have never driven the Arc de Triomphe. Its a good thing too.

I should also stress that these ideas – including the suggestion of art at the State/Ellsworth roundabout – were part of a brainstorming session. It’s my understanding that they did not settle upon these ideas as ones that they will definitely pursue. Nor are the ideas exhaustive – the intent is to continue the discussion.

You are absolutely correct that there’s been a lot of talk at AAPAC meetings about process. That’s been true since I started covering these meetings in 2008, and it tends to spike when new commissioners join the group. Three new commissioners (Bob Miller, John Kotarski and Theresa Reid) have joined within the past six months or so.

Speaking of process – the planning commission is wrapping up its dinner break and getting ready to start Hour 4 of its retreat. Time to get back to that.

I’ll try to follow up to see if we can’t eventually track down a legible version of that.

Re: [2] roundabout

I’m thinking the middle of a roundabout might not be a great place to put anything that would distract a driver’s focus. Having spent some time one day in the middle of a roundabout, it’s my observation that drivers will look at whatever interesting thing might be there.

There has been a lot of discussion about process over the last months at the AAPAC and I have been left with the feeling that the process may not be known or agreed upon by the Commissioners. There are discussions of possible sites but who identifies them? (Better yet, who rejects them?) There have been discussions of an evaluation rubric but is one being used? Commissioners have discussed the desire to integrate art into the selected project, as opposed to just decorating it, but they are still too late to do that for most projects on the list.

I also have to question a possible public art project at the planned South State and Ellsworth roundabout. Is that really the best place for the next piece of public art or is it because a lot of yellow vehicles will be converging on that location soon? How was that site tested or challenged as a site for a work of art? For what it is worth, I am fairly sure that 3 of the 4 corners there are in Pittsfield Township.

Now don’t get me wrong I think you can have art anywhere (and I really mean that) but the site will call the kind of art it wants, and that may not be immediately palatable to the public at large. If you asked me today what I think that roundabout location wants I would say something made from cars; think Cadillac Ranch or Carhenge. Maybe something crash-like, violent and gritty. I think cars could have the right scale as it would need to compete with all of the visual noise at that location. And at the same time its not a great place to do something inviting as we do not want to encourage people to be walking to the center of the circle.