Another election season has brought another round of reports of stolen yard signs. Some of the 14 candidates who interviewed with The Eagle editorial board last week spoke of having lost signs even this early in October. True, some of these alleged thefts may turn out to be because the signs were violating the city’s right-of-way rule, which was a real problem with GOP gubernatorial candidates during the August primary. Even in a private yard, for example, no sign should be placed between the street and the sidewalk. Posting signs on public property or on utility poles, lampposts or traffic control devices also is a no-no. For right-of-way reasons, the city confiscates 12,000 to 15,000 signs of all kinds each year. But if the signs are disappearing for partisan reasons, shame on the thieves. That’s not just wasting the other guy’s campaign funds. It’s also violating the spirit of the great exercise of democracy.
Posted by Rhonda Holman
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22 Comments
Any person who would steal another candidate’s sign already shows that he/she doesn’t care about democracy.
So if you notice that any one certain person or party’s signs are disappearing – then voters need to vote for the missing candidate/party just to show whoever is behind these sign stealings that their sewer level tactic did not work.
That’s the problem with our system, which is basically a two-party system. We end up voting for someone just because the other candidate is worse.
I put a sign of each party in my front yard. I believe in equal opportunity and it makes the goal of the sign delivers a wee bit easier.
hibesides political signs you can run into other “right a way” probs with the city on this subject.I live on the north end and have tried for yrs now to have a civil discussion with the city about me and a neighbor posting signs in “our” yds. that say SLOW DOWNto the traffic going both ways.the city does not mow my yd or my neighbors we don,t think they have the right to tell us that we can not do this.I have asked a lot of people this? and they all say no.we have a major speeding prob. on a thru street that is used like speedway a kid will get hit someday . R.C.
Raj Goyle is the worst offender this campaign season. As an ACLU attorney, I am sure Goyle understands the law. Most of Goyle’s campaign money comes from outside of Kansas. I am sure Goyle has made a decision that he can afford to put up illegal signs if the only penalty will be that the city takes them down in a few days.Goyles signs can be seen on City Park property, construction areas along Kellogg, Corporate owned properties that never give permission to anybody, but are slow to take signs down, etc.—-Putting up yard signs where they are not wanted by the property owner is an old campaign trick. You get the advertising while the signs are up, then you get to whine and cry when someone takes them down.Gwen Welshimer was one of the worst offenders in this area, when I ran against her for state representative years ago.Welshimers campaign harassed a day care provider on a daily basis about her “illegal” Rosell sign. They thought it was illegal because her day care was next to a church, and they assumed that the day care was on church property. In fact, the church was on an entirely seperate parcel, something a “real estate expert” like Welshimer, should have been able to figure out. Finally, a Welshimer sign appeared in this person’s yard, without permission. The property owner asked me what to do about it. I simply stapled one of my signs on top of Welshimer’s sign.Sure enough, Welshimer went to the Eagle with her complaint about me, and the (double) signs in question.This story was never printed by the Eagle because I had the exact address ready for the only two sites where I had done this, and Welshimer had nothing to say to defend herself!—–I was once accused of taking down someone’s signs in a Republican Primary as well.I had written permission from a rental property owner at the time.The story of the accusation against me made the news.The fact that I was never charged with anything, after the police questioned me at the urging of the other candidate, never made the papers. I had an envelope with me when I was questioned by the police, the envelop had the property owners name and address on it, and her notes on the back about which properties to “clean up” since she was putting them on the market, and which properties I could use for our yard signs.
(It wasnt the other candidates fault, this particular story was the result of a bitter former employee that we had fired while I worked at the Court House. We caught him with one of our signs, and he simply called the police to cover his own theft. We didn’t report his theft until he fabricated his story about us.)
Yes, it can get very petty. I do have one legal question that even the Wichita Police and Sedgwick County officials have had trouble with:
Once a sign is placed on a property, who does it belong to, the candidate or the property owner?This is not a simple question. Was the sign “loaned” or was it a “gift”??
Possession is 9 tenths of the law – isn’t it? If someone leaves a bag of money on my front yard – if they don’t come back to claim it within a set time period – it’s mine.
Looks like the same logic would apply to signs.
If a candidate puts a sign in my front yard and I don’t want it there – can I take it down legally?
Absent an agreement between the property owner and the candidate to the contrary, the sign is the property of the owner, once posted and left on the property.
ROSHILL!
You ran against Gwen? This means you live in the same area of town that I do. (That may explain the foul stench that occasionally wafts through the neighborhood.)
I THINK I have even met you!
I honestly don’t remember your name or any of your signs so your candidacy must have been some time ago. But I DO remember a guy running against Gwen coming door to door asking for votes. I told him I would not vote for him or any other Republican SunnuvaB…. and that he had 3 seconds to get “running” off my property or I would turn the hose on him. If that WAS you, you moved pretty fast that day! My son thought it was hilarious. Do you remember that encounter?
The greatest violator I have seen of rights of way was that GOP candidate for governor that didn’t get past the primary. Funny, I can’t remember his name now.
I like when folks put out yard signs. Let’s me know who I should and should not associate with.
Here is why ownership matters: Who has authority to file a complaint? Only the OWNER of the sign, everyone else is simply a witness, a witness who can’t give authority to post the sign. Also, in large scale theft or vandalism, the dollar figures cant be added together from every seperate property can they, since each property owner would represent a seperate “theft.”Candidates often agree to take down signs after the election. I am not sure this makes the sign a “loan” however, since the property owner is free to take the sign down at any time and toss it in the trash.
So if a candidate posts a sign in my front yard that I don’t want there, I can or cannot file a complaint against such candidate?
My wife’s purple tent and sign were stolen from our front yard. It happened a while back about the same time the City was talking about cracking down on the homeless. Coincidence? …
Paul – I see a lot of Barnett and Kline signs out on City right-of-way out here on the west side. And a lot of Huy signs similarly situated out east.
JRYou once posted that you voted for Reagan twice.I think you just proved yourself a liar with that last anti-Republican post.LOLGive you enough rope, JR, and you always hang yourself!
Paul I never posted that I voted for Reagan twice.That would have been a little difficult. In November 1980 I was only 15 years old. Too, at least a dozen people on this forum know I am only 41. So for me to post that I had voted for Reagan twice would have raised more red flags then the one you just pulled outta your…..nether region.
I DID vote for Reagan and a straight GOP ticket in 1984. I was young and dumb.
Paul? Please don’t try BS attempts to assualt my credibility just because you don’t have any.
Hung myself? That hasn’t ever happened either. You are invited to keep trying.
And you did not say if you were the guy I ran off with the water hose! I am betting you were and just don’t want to confirm it. Domestic poultry excrement.
CR if a candidate posts a sign on your property you can do anything you like with it and the candidate cannot do a thing.
I saw Bonnie Huy personally walk over to my neighbor’s house, where a Raj Goyle sign is on display, and steal the signs. She just picked it up, put it in her car and drove off!! Now that’s what I call family values!!
Lol…
Another interesting sign point… I know the guy who runs a computer repair company that has those white, “we’ll fix it or its free” signs around town.
Mostly placed in the right of way, but mostly no big deal. But the manager of CompUSA paid his employees $10 per sign if they went out and took them…
He filed a small claims court suite and won. Interesting…
Randy – too bad you didn’t get a picture. Have her arrested. If I saw her take a sign from my yard I would call 911.
I’d probably run out into my yard after her with that 3′ piece of pipe i keep by the door…
I call BS on Randy’s post! Of course, I am sure that all of you leftists will just assume that it is true! lmsarfao
V.L.R.B!!
Randy
Get a camera at the ready and post some more signs. Get pics of her and her license number.
It’s sad that the candidate with the largest war chest thus the most signs usually wins. Because dip-shite Americans would rather pick their leaders based off of who had the most signage rather than the issues.
In France, the entrance to each neighborhood has a bulletin board station where there is generally a map of the neighborhood but also a tack board area for fliers. This is the ONLY location that political candidates can post their signs prior to an election. Makes the neighborhoods much nicer and you don’t have to spend the next six months cleaning up old campaign signs that have blown into your yard because you can sure as hell bet that Phill Kline isn’t going to come clean up his mess since he’s given the directive of “Get me in and out! I shouldn’t be the last to leave…”