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This post is a response to the RTA public informantion officer, Mr. Masek, and Anonymous (who seems to be responding for Mr. Masek also) here over on Tim Ferris' blog __________________________________________________________________

The 10 inch by 10 inch advertisement above is in every RTA rail car (I have been on 6 different cars during the last week), glued to the window on the LH side of the car just behind the operator's cab.   I first saw them on Monday morning, December 4, and I saw two more of them yesterday, December 10.

  I have been wondering:   Who put them there?  What did the advertising cost?  Where is the contract?  Is this how it works in Cleveland?

Mr. Masek, the Public Information officer for the RTA, has been responding during the last week to my questions about this advertising over on Tim Ferris’ blog

Mr. Masek, or his anonymous helper, today wrote back to me on Ferris’ blog with the following:

“JMasek's response: I checked with CBS Outdoor Advertising. These ads were placed without RTA approval, and they did not go through CBS.

Many people illegally put up ads for small businesses, bingo nights, casino trips and other events. We remove them as we see them.”

{note to readers: CBS has bought the rights from the RTA for all advertizing on their trains and buses.  I learned this when I heard Carl Pope discuss his Mind of Cleveland project}

My first response to Mr. Masek is baloney, the adhesive ads were stuck on the glass with the RTA’s approval, or at least with the knowledge of someone at RTA.  This has to be the case because the ads are neatly and consistently placed in the same location on each car of each train.  They are put on plumb and level – not the work of a speedy bootlegger.  They are on the window closest to the operator  - not the most descrete location for a bootlegger. And they have been allowed to remain in the  cars for at least a week already – while the cars are cleaned every night. 

And they are not anonymous.  They are from Tower City Center.

So, Mr. Masek, I am not buying your explanation (and I don’t think you buy it yourself because the advertising “bootlegger” isn’t some   out of state casino or some unknown online business or bingo game – The advertiser is Tower City Center)

Tower City Center is too smart to glue ads on RTA windows without RTA approval.  So the question is who gave Tower City Approval?  It would be easy to find out who printed these adhesive advertisements, and who was hired to install them in the RTA cars – just ask Tower City Center - they will have receipts.

And if the RTA didn’t give approval, then it is time the RTA’s law department contact  the County prosecutor and request that the prosecutor go after Tower City Center for malicious defacement of public property – just like the prosecutor would go after graffiti taggers.  Or will the RTA show a deference to Tower City Center’s unauthorized graffiti?

What will it cost the RTA to remove these adhesive backed placards and clean the window glass?  Who will pay for that clean up?  When will it be done?

Please keep me posted on the costs of removing these “unauthorized” Tower City Center ads.  Let’s treat everyone with fairness and equity here in NEO!

And thanks for being up to speed with the NEO blogs  . 

best,

Jeff Buster