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Dear Supporter,

As someone who lives in the D.C. area and who cares about our visual environment, I wanted to let you know that there is a proposal before City Council to allow the Verizon Center owners to erect a series of enormous jumbotron billboards all around the arena. Not long ago they made a similar proposal, but vast public opposition caught the billboard guys off guard and they retreated. However, they're back with a new plan to light up Chinatown with giant electronic billboards.

The first public hearing on the "Verizon Center Graphics and Entertainment Act of 2012" will be on Wednesday, June 20 at 12:00 PM in Room 412 of the Wilson Building (1350 Pennsylvania Ave NW). It's very important that citizens show up and testify in opposition to creating a special exemption to the city's sign laws to allow one entity, the Verizon Center, to profit from putting up these massive jumbotron billboards.

If you would like to speak out against this bill, please register by contacting Ed Fisher, Committee Director for the Committee on Public Services and Consumer Affairs at (202) 741-2112 or via email at efisher@dccouncil.us and provide your name, address, telephone number, organizational affiliation and title (if any) by close of business on Tuesday, June 19, 2012. Your testimony can be as brief as saying you are opposed to this bill, up to a maximum length of four minutes. We want to pack the room, but written statements will be accepted if you are unable to testify in person. You can find information on where to send it in the hearing notice copied below.

Please let us know if you need any assistance preparing testimony in opposition to the Verizon Center's efforts to obtain a special exception to install massive jumbotron billboards. Thank you for your support.

Sincerely,

Mary Tracy
President
Scenic America

HEARING NOTICE

Verizon Center Graphics and Entertainment Act
Date: June 20, 12:00 PM
Address: Room 412, John A. Wilson Building
1350 Pennsylvania Ave., NW
Washington, D.C. 20004

B19-517, the "Verizon Center Graphics and Entertainment Act of 2012"
Councilmember Yvette M. Alexander, chairperson of the Committee on Public Services and Consumer Affairs, announces a public hearing on Bill 19-0517: Verizon Center Graphics and Entertainment Act of 2012. The public hearing will be held at 12:00 p.m. on Wednesday, June 20, 2012 in Room 412 of the John A. Wilson Building.
The stated purpose of Bill 19-0517 is to require the Mayor to issue rules governing additional graphics for the displays on the exterior of the Verizon Center.

Those who wish to testify should register online or contact Ed Fisher, Committee Director for the Committee on Public Services and Consumer Affairs at (202) 741-2112 or via email at efisher@dccouncil.us and provide their name, address, telephone number, organizational affiliation and title (inf any) by close of business on Tuesday, June 19, 2012. Persons wishing to testify are encouraged, but not required, to submit 15 copies of written testimony. If submitted by close of business on Tuesday, June 19, 2012, the testimony will be distributed to Councilmembers before the hearing. Witnesses should limit their testimony to four minutes; less time will be allowed if there are a large number of witnesses.

If you are unable to testify at the hearing, written statements are encouraged and will be made part of the official record. Copies of written statements should be submitted either to Ms. Williamson, or to Ms. Nyasha Smith, Secretary to the Council, Room 5 of the Wilson Building, 1350 Pennsylvania Ave., NW, Washington, D.C. 20004. The record will close at 5:00 p.m. on Wednesday, June 27, 2012.