The City of Iowa City and the Iowa City Downtown District have recently partnered to contract a new cleaning service, Block by Block, in Downtown Iowa City. One of the new features of this contract is that posters will now be removed from anywhere around town that is not a designated kiosk.

According to the Block by Block job description, cleaning ambassadors are to "Remove graffiti and posters from light posts, trash cans, news boxes and other public infrastructure...You know those stickers for bands and bars? Handbills that junk up the telephone poles, well they got to go too." 

Postering is a great way to find out about community events and is incredibly effective at spreading information. This new system neglects to think about how often our community is brought together by an event postered in our town. The Downtown District and the City of Iowa City are making a short sighted attempt to stop a tradition of community communication under the guise of "enhancing downtown services." 

Removing posters from public spaces will have a negative impact on our community and will create an unnecessary barrier to finding community spaces and events.

Sign this petition to tell the city and downtown district to stop removing posters we want to see in our community.