Newton’s zoning and planning board is considering a change to the zoning ordinances to allow campaign signs to remain on residents’ lawns up to seven days after an election, the TAB’s Trevor Jones reports.
Do you see any reason why lawn signs should remain up more than two days after an election? Are there other rules you would change regarding campaign signs? For example, Boston allows really, really, big signs. Should Newton? How about multiple signs for the same candidate on the same lawn?
Or does regulating signs at all disturb your free speech rights or civil liberties?
It would be nice for people to have until the weekend to pull down signs.
I think 7 days is a reasonable interval … though I won’t tell my neighbor who still have their Elizabeth Warren sign up.
The reality is that it’s almost impossible to get all the signs taken down within 48 hours. This is a good common sense proposal that fits the actual situation.
Size restrictions are perfectly reasonable but it would be outrageous and unconstitutional (freedom of expression) to restrict the number of signs for different candidates.
Fortunately, most people realize that having any more than 2 or 3 signs for different candidates on the same property is self defeating as the visual impact of each sign is diminished.
@Charlie: I asked about Newton’s rule limiting signs for the same candidate.
Seven days is reasonable, but don’t change the regulations limiting the size of the signs or the number of signs for one candidate on a single property. I see large and multiple signs for a single candidate on many lawns in West Roxbury and it looks, quite frankly, tacky. One thing we simply cannot tolerate anything in Newton that smacks of tackiness.
I’ve never had a sign on my lawn but I’m trying to figure out why one would need a week to remove it.
Wouldn’t one simply place two hands on the sign and/or frame and lift?
I had a couple hundred corrugated signs out for each of my first two school committee runs. They are costly, and worth saving. Signs that I personally collected in the first 48 post-election hours were rapidly gathered and are now neatly stored away. Signs that my supporters pulled after I couldn’t get there in time are still sitting in various garages around the city. Once in a while, nearly two years since the last election, someone will drop an old sign onto my porch, or email me to come and get one from them. Seven days = good.
On the topic of election signs… The first Google StreetView photos of Newton were done in October 2007, showing election signs across the city — a semi-permanent record of who supported whom. Recently StreetView’s photos have been updated, and they now show election signs as of October 2011.
Much as I appreciate the cost of the signs for the candidates, they should keep in mind that the lawn sign hosts have graciously had signs in their yards supporting their candidacy for weeks.
I’m with Greg, I have multiple lawn signs every election season, but there’s no way that they stay up beyond election night. My signs are down at 8:01 and placed on the side of the house, then after a week they go into the garage. Any candidate is most welcome to pick it his/her sign at any time. So John Rice, if you’d like your sign from ’09, we’ve got it stored away!
Of course if incumbents who are not facing challengers would leave their signs in their garages, there would be many fewer to pick up.