No one is cleverer than Clever Moore

With a state election less than one month away, Sydney’s Local Member and Lord Mayor, Clover Moore has suddenly relaxed her attitude towards revelry on the City’s footpaths. Having tirelessly fought to clean up our city streets, the Lord Mayor was recently spotted holding a glass of chardonnay outside a trendy art gallery at the opening of the Harbour City Bears Mardi Gras art exhibition. The charming and cozy Monstrosity Gallery is located along the new multi million dollar Bourke Street bike lane in Woolloomooloo, whose streets were officially designated “Alcohol Free Zones” by Clover’s council.  In a seemingly well meaning attempt to control loutish behavior on our City streets, Clover introduced a series of governmental regulations and penalties for drinking on the footpath, which would be a joke, if they didn’t have dire financial consequences for those caught offending.  Just two kilometers down the road from the Loo, Council recently penalized another struggling local gallery in Surry Hills thousands of dollars for allowing its patrons to consume wine on the footpath. And in neighbouring Kings Cross at the Griffin Theatre, signs warn patrons to abide by Council’s onerous regulations. Where theatre goers would once spill out onto Nimrod’s narrow laneway during intermission, staff is now forced to usher drinkers inside. God forbid theatre junkies should engage in the anti social behavior of smoking on the footpath and leaving their butt on a street without an ashtray.  The City’s rangers would be there to issue an infringement notice instantly.  Under Clover Moore, Sydney has become a mighty fine city for the arts.

As both the Lord Mayor of Sydney and  the Local Member for the City , Clover has used her clout to push through laws that effectively locked patrons out of the bars after 2 am, pushing them out onto Oxford Street and Darlinghurst Road in the Cross where more than a few were bashed and abused. The lock outs were repealed following protests from community and industry leaders. On behalf of her vocal base of cranky baby boomer supporters, Clover introduced further policies that forced all late night drinking establishments to operate on a permanent trial basis, revocable at any time.  Several popular establishments found their trading hours reduced. Young pub goers, the liquor industry and the media were outraged by the early shut downs.  In the face of universal opposition, the State Planning Minister Tony Kelly overturned her decision to force pubs to operate on trial conditions. Nanna Clover was discredited. In the lead up to this month’s election, Clover’s spin machine has worked overtime to repair her tarnished image.  At Town Hall she has called for art museums, galleries and trendy boutiques to stay open late into the night. Since Sydney’s largest cultural institutions have not been arguing for increased trading hours and it is not clear who would fund the extending staffing costs, locals believe her late night conversion is merely an election stunt.

Meanwhile, at several key locations along George Street, in the weeks before the election, Town Hall has introduced “Time Square” style deck chairs, so that urban dwellers can lounge as if in at the beach and gain access to free Wi-Fi connections, courtesy of Clover. In New York City, the intersection of Broadway and Seventh Avenue was closed off and people are now encouraged to kick back their heels under more neon lights than Clover Moore would condone in a life time. The Lord Mayor has been calling for a similar closure of George Street, the main road north to Circular Quay through the CBD. As an empty political gesture to in the lead up to a State election, Clover has suddenly littered the footpath with deck chairs. The irony is astounding. Since being elected to Town Hall, Clover has committed Council’s resources to reducing “visual clutter.” Street signs, café tables, outdoor shop displays on the footpath have been curtailed. Even the distribution of free circulation newspapers has been tightly regulated by Clover Moore, who has sought to ensure that Sydney’s streets remain clean and tidy. Under regulations that have been tightly enforced under Clover Moore’s regime — a number of popular Sydney cafes have received hefty fines for street furniture violations. One purveyor of frozen yoghurt in Darlinghurst was fined thousands of dollars for allowing customers to remain on their footstools five minutes past ten pm. Another popular Asian establishment was fined for allowing patrons to sit on milk crates and for playing low level ambient music on the street.  Deck Town Hall with chairs and folly: under Clover Moore Sydney has become a mighty fine City indeed.