Who the hell steals political signs?

[omro]

Isn't the theft of political signs illegal?

What if it's a political opponent of the candidate who's signs were taken?

[omro]

Yeap they did!

Paul Tetley Overnight on Friday October 22, Ward 3 Councillor Candidate Paul Tetley experienced the theft of numerous election signs.
The theft targeted large signs (32" x 48" which were attached to fences and appears to be focused on Tetley. Paul Tetley states; "Our campaign signs were clearly targeted as Bratina for Mayor, and other adjacent signs were left untouched. It also appears to be orchestrated as the signs were cleanly cut from fences and all the thefts occurred in on a single night in different parts of the Ward."
The signs have now been replaced and Tetley says, "We are taking this incident very seriously and are offering a $1,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the perpetrators. The theft of election signs is against the law and cannot be accepted as part of our city democracy."
A report has been filed with Hamilton Police Services...

[markbarbera]

Other dirty politics going on in ward 3...

A second attack ad is targeting Morelli and shows his election signs plastered on a decrepit building. It highlights problems in Ward 3 and mentions a harassment complaint filed against Morelli in 2004.

“I’m not going to dignify this piece of trash with a response,” Morelli said in response to the ad. “Quite frankly, it’s libelous.”

Morelli said he will be asking for an investigation into who distributed the ad and will be “seeking legal advice to ensure those who put this out are held accountable.”

http://www.thespec.com/news/election...attle-heats-up

Perhaps a little tit-for-tat going on here?

[omro]

Originally Posted by markbarbera

Other dirty politics going on in ward 3...

Perhaps a little tit-for-tat going on here?

Are you suggesting Morelli's supporters removed the signs?

I went out delivering leaflets for Paul this morning and one of our group discussions was about those leaflets and who had gotten one. Some in the team had, I and others had not. We asked one another if we knew who'd distributed them or their source. No one knew. We'd love to know though

I know Paul very well, I've known him since my first Art-Crawl SSP Forum meet last April in 2009. He's not involved with the flyer, he's too busy with his own campaign leaflets and face to face Tetley Tea Parties.

I personally don't see the flyer as dirty politics. Most of the information on it I was able to find with simple google searches. I believe another flyer is going around telling people to vote for anyone other than the incumbents and that's citywide, is that dirty politics too?

Someone stealing signs is theft and trespass and should really be taken seriously.

[drpgq]

Originally Posted by omro

Someone stealing signs is theft and trespass and should really be taken seriously.

Really? Elections get stolen or defaced every election. I hardly think this should be much of a priority for the police.

[bigguy1231]

There are always stories and rumours of organized groups removing opponents election signs during elections.

In all of the campaigns I have worked on over the years I have only seen one case where workers from a campaign were caught. The candidate and his campaign manager knew nothing about it. It was a few overzealous supporters doing something they thought would help the campaign.

Usually the way to tell if it is an organized effort is, if the signs disappear it is an organized effort. If they are just damaged it is more than likely kids running through them or kicking them down. Especially if it happens along the stretch of a single street.

[omro]

Originally Posted by drpgq

Really? Elections get stolen or defaced every election. I hardly think this should be much of a priority for the police.

It is if only one candidate's signs are stolen from various locations around the ward. That's targetted!

[markbarbera]

As others have said this is nothing new, certainly not for Hamilton politics. Removal of signs is part of the package and not worth getting upset about. Best reponse is the same as when property is vandalized: replace the missing signs and move on with the campaign.

As far as my reference to leaflets, it was merely an illustration on how cheap politics can get and not meant to lay blame on who was responsible for them. Regardless of whether the info in the leaflets can be found on the net, distribution of them is as cheap a political tactic as the removal of signs, particularly when the leaflet is unsigned. Even more so if the content is libellous as Morelli alleges.

[omro]

I would agree with you if it were a few lawn signs, but these are large signs attached with zip-ties and they are being cut and removed. More went missing today. Some removed yesterday were replaced by the incumbent's signs. Alas the only witness so far has been a child. The reward still stands.

This is very dirty politics. Hopefully this means that someone is scared.

[omro]

Seems like more went from another part of the ward :-(

Shame no one from the media is picking up the reward story, as there were witnesses

[markbarbera]

Maybe the media aren't picking up the story because signs going missing during a campaign really is a bit of a non-story.

[omro]

Perhaps, but a reward for information is being offered.

[markbarbera]

Maybe the media doesn't want to nibble at another plug-seeking release so close to voting day. Try another release after the election. But, reward or not, there really isn't much of a story here.

[omro]

What if the sign thief may be linked to the incumbent or another candidate? That would be significant

[bigguy1231]

Originally Posted by omro

What if the sign thief may be linked to the incumbent or another candidate? That would be significant

No candidate would sanction destroying another candidates signs. More often than not it is a supporter thinking they are helping that does this sort of thing.

Candidates cannot be held responsible for the actions of volunteers unless they approve or encourage such actions.

As for the media not reporting it , it happens every election to all candidates. So it really isn't an issue worth reporting.

[highwater]

Our street has been completely stripped of McHattie signs (and there were many). It was such a clean sweep that I wondered if the campaign was picking them up early to recycle them, but I called and they said no. They've been getting lots of reports of stolen signs.

[BrianE]

My Tetley sign got nicked Thursday night as well, it was on my front garden. As for the post card that targets Morelli, I don't know how he think's it's libellous. All the card does is list 6 or 7 quotes directly from the Census, Andrew Drechel and the Code Red feature that the spec is doing. If this reflects badly on Morelli it's because it should.

[drpgq]

Originally Posted by highwater

Our street has been completely stripped of McHattie signs (and there were many). It was such a clean sweep that I wondered if the campaign was picking them up early to recycle them, but I called and they said no. They've been getting lots of reports of stolen signs.

People are bothering to steal a lot of McHattie signs? That's interesting because I would figure that McHattie is pretty much a lock, so why make much of a concerted effort?

[markbarbera]

McHattie seems to think so.

No one should have a lock on a ward. If a councillor has been in that seat for more than a decade that breeds complacency. It's time for term limits on council.