Signs that don’t count . . .
I have voted in every election since I turned 18. And I don’t just vote. I study the ballot, investigate the candidates and read the propositions.
I don’t really look at the ads on TV but I do appreciate the lawn signs and bumper stickers. No matter whether you agree with someone or not, when they decide to put a sign on their lawn or a bumper sticker on their car, you know how they will vote. They have thought about the issues and made a decision. They have decided to support a candidate or a proposition. I respect that. Lawn signs and bumper stickers make me feel like there is good participation in our election process.
And, for those of you who worry about bumper stickers being on your car forever, bumper stickers are so much better today. They peal off really easily! It’s a way to participate in our democracy! Go ahead! Show your support for someone!
However, what about the signs that get posted all over the place – not on lawns?!? It’s visual clutter. I believe that these campaigns lack grassroots support. There are candidates with lots of personal wealth and think they can buy the election. There are corporations who place propositions on our ballots that would allow them to make more money. And there are proponents for propositions that would change our laws that are supported by a few and only lack grassroots support? They have very few supporters and therefore, their signs can’t go on lawns. No one would be willing to put a bumper sticker on his or her car.
These are the candidates and proposition groups that put their signs on empty lots, on high poles along busy streets, and on city and commercial properties. Is this their idea of a campaign? They don’t have supporters and are not supported by a grassroots organization? Those signs on the empty lots and up high on poles don’t represent anything other than the candidate has a lot of money – to cut down a whole lot of trees to produce the signs. And then they hire a sign hanger to spray the community with their signs. It’s enormously expensive. The egrets and frogs in the Ballona Wetlands and the Madrona Marsh are not voting and neither is the dirt in an empty lot. It’s visual pollution!
And additionally, there is a cost to local businesses and governments. Small business owners and local governments have to hire a cherry picker to remove the signs that are not supposed to be there. The campaigns force this expenditure of our tax dollars. That’s not OK with me.
Just drive around. Look at the signs on the lawns and the bumper stickers. Let’s all vote for the responsible, grassroots candidates that have signs in yards and bumper stickers on cars. Seems to me that these are the candidates that actually know people – and real voters actually support the candidate or the proposition.
