Portland city commissioner (as city councilmen are known in the Oregon city) Steve Novick may have been elected only last year, but he’s wasted no time in using his public office to indulge his personal crotchets. Drawing on his extensive experience running a business–which is to say, absolutely none–Novick, a lifelong government employee and political activist, has used his city blog to demand that the Oregonian newspaper reverse a recent corporate decision and restore seven-day home delivery. On the same blog, he’s declared a “war on chairs,” and announced a city “Stand Up for Wellness Day.” And now, Commissioner Novick has taken aim at DirecTV.
It seems that last year, when Commissioner Novick signed up for DirecTV, his subscription included a free year of the “NFL Sunday Ticket” package. He was also unwittingly enrolled in automatic renewal. The only problem is, Novick didn’t want to renew NFL Sunday Ticket. That’s an annoyance to be sure–one that anyone who has dealt with cable companies or, admittedly, magazines, has probably been confronted with. But rather than simply call DirecTV and cancel the package, Commissioner Novick is instead using the power of his office to lead a charge against the satellite provider.
