Signs don’t obey, yet we must?

Yard signs are legal in yards, or on private business property. But when the campaigns put signs on public space, they fall into the same category as all those “bandit” signs offering to help you lose 30 pounds, sell your house and buy a puppy.

“They’re not legal,” said Tom Goldsbury, chief of the city’s building inspection division.
Goldsbury’s department used to handle sign code enforcement. And at one point, when the budget was better, he hired two guys with pickups to spend several days a week collecting illegal signs. They were especially busy during campaign season.

“But you get so many overzealous candidates,” he said. “We’ve got other things to do. It’s hard to keep up with that.”

I don’t know if political signs work. But when signs are littering the right of way, I hope they do the opposite. I hope people see them and think about how some candidate’s campaign ignored the laws we’re telling local business owners to abide by.

Earlier this year, there was a push by some local politicians
to crack down on bandit signs. Ordinance 2010-253 was introduced to address “sign regulations and zero tolerance for litter on public property.”

The ordinance says that each illegal sign can be subject to a fine: starting at $50 for the first and hitting $350 for the fifth and beyond.