Letter: Sign stealing

Letter to the editor posted by Neil Merrilees on Nov 06, 2007 at 11:49 am in  Community
5 comments • Click to email this story

Whomever has been “selectively culling” my “Merrilees for midcoast” Signs out on Hwy 1, and in the neighborhoods in Moss Beach, Please make sure they are recycled.  They are Plastic, and were bought with the intention of being recycled, not thrown away.  Dump them in the dead of night in my front yard (160 Marine Blvd) and I’ll take care of them.  Dirty tricks are expected, but don’t trash the environment.

Thanks,
Neil

Comments

Comment 1 by Darin Boville  on  Nov 06  at  1:36pm  •  All my comments • 

I noticed we had what looked like over-the-hill union guys with Cilia signs staking out the school. They arrived on trucks earlier with many signs on board. When I got near the guy I overheard him talking on his phone to others in his organization, apparently located at other sites nearby.

Don't know if this is an actual organized labor sort of thing but it looks like it.

The reason I mention this is (having been raised in northern, highly-unionized, Ohio) I think it is a common tactic to remove other candidate's signs to get rid of the visual clutter--make your guy stand out.

Don't know if that is the case here...

--Darin

Comment 2 by ScottBoyd  on  Nov 06  at  2:27pm  •  All my comments • 

Caltrans regularly removes signs along the Hwy 1 right of way. There's a letter in the candidate handbook that says they will, and they certainly do. You can reclaim your signs from Caltrans at their corporation yard.

Comment 3 by Darin Boville  on  Nov 06  at  2:41pm  •  All my comments • 

I think Neil was saying that there was "selective culling"--if that is the case that would suggest that it wasn't Caltrans...

--Darin

Comment 4 by ScottBoyd  on  Nov 06  at  2:53pm  •  All my comments • 

Oh, I know that some "selective culling" has happened to candidates' signs. It happened to some of mine in the front yards of some of my supporters. It's unfortunate, but it happens.

I encourage everyone to join me in leaving signs alone during a campaign.

I'm glad to see Neil encouraging the recycling of purloined signs. That's a positive approach to an unfortunate situation.

For what it's worth, Caltrans did a rather thorough sweep of signs along Hwy 1 on Friday. Some campaigns had their signs back up very quickly, which could easily have left an impression of selective culling along the highway. In fact, it did create precisely that impression for some of the folks I know, but because someone had called me when they saw Caltrans out there removing signs, I was able to let some them know that, at least along the highway, it was just Caltrans workers doing their jobs.

Comment 5 by Chip  on  Nov 07  at  1:47pm  •  All my comments • 

Hi Neil, Could you (or anyone) tell me the best way to recycle out plastic signs?

Chip Pickard


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