Simon and I had been wanting to paint a mural of hope on the wall of the property since the acceptance speech at the convention. Finally, last Sunday, Carolyn and I had given ourselves enough time to actually do it.
The wall has gotten great response. Cars honk. People give thumbs up. They shout out Obama as they ride by on bikes. People even stop to take photos. And we met someone who used a photo in a school project. Of course, we knew there would be 'some' people who might object -- one person stuck gum in the O - quickly removed. Another put a McCain sticker on the O - quickly removed. But as a neighbor pointed out, it's private property. What we never expected stuck to the mural was a notice of violation from the City of Miami claiming we were in violation of ordinances because of Grafitti on the property and that we erected, constructed or posted a sign without a finalized permit.
I kid you not. The code inspector considered it graffiti and the erection, construction, posting etc., of a sign without a finalized permit. If it doesn't come down by the 6th, Simon gets fined up to $200 a day with threats of liens on the property. So Simon and I are essentially in violation of showing signs of hope. Or murals of hope. Of being hopeful. Of thinking we can be better people, better neighbors, a better a nation, a better planet. To our Hope, we are told Nope by Inspector Rafael Galvez. Makes you wonder if he's one of the those drivers that give us the finger when we hold signs that say Honk for Peace.
Of course, I was ticked off. Simon just wanted to know if we needed to keep the sign taped the wall and how long we had till we had to paint it. I wasn't about to cave that quickly. If we are talking to voters every day about restoring the Constitution and protecting our free speech and privacy, I can't simply grab a paint brush and cover a mural that advocates Hope.
I had gone next door to Melanie and Jose to deliver some Obama schwag and told them about the notice. They had friends over for dinner and as ticked off as I was about the Notice, when I told them, they got even more ticked off. It was a unanimous decision to fight it. Have the house declared a historic site since it's more than 50 years old. Contact the media, the ACLU.
If graffiti in this instance is considered lettering or numbers painted on a wall - then isn't a house number on a wall graffiti? This was neither damage to property or unwanted... but think about this for a second....what about instances where someone actually does paint graffiti on your house. Is the City of Miami saying that you are in violation of codes if you were vandalized? Is this where our tax dollars are going? The city considered cutting back picking up trash/yard clippings from once a week to once a month but they have money to burn having Rafael Galvez drive around the Grove?
And we didn't erect , construct or post a sign. It's a mural. It doesn't tell you buy anything, sell anything, eat anything, it doesn't even tell you to have hope. It's a wall of hope, around a house of hope, inhabited by hopeful people and a hopeful dog.
Melanie came back to the house and after maybe a minute, Simon picked up the phone and called the ACLU. We'll see where this goes. Melanie said she would protest if we painted over the mural and would raise a ruckus. But if we are forced to paint over it, who knows, maybe signs of hope will begin popping up all over town. All up and down the street. One a week. Keeping Mr. Galvez busy. He certainly needs some Hope. And I think this country needs some Change.