SCHMITT FOR COUNTY COMMISSIONER POLITICAL SIGN PLACEMENT IS QUESTIONABLE

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ALEX SCHMITT FOR COUNTY COMMISSIONER POLITICAL SIGN PLACEMENT IS QUESTIONABLE

The City-County Observer has received many complaints concerning the possible illegal placement of campaign signs for Alex Schmitt installed on public right a ways.

You may recall that Mr. Schmitt is Mayor Lloyd Winnecke’s hand-picked candidate for County Commissioner, who is opposed by well-known Republican, Cheryl Musgrave, in the upcoming Republican primary election.

The allegations of illegal placement of campaign signs concerns two political signs.  Both signs are located on the on the Eastside. One sign is located on the Lloyd just East of Harrison High School and the other one is at the intersection of Lincoln Ave and Newburgh Road.  Both signs do appear to be on public right-of-ways, which is in violation of City ordinances.

While we are not endorsing either candidate in this primary race, we are calling on the Schmitt campaign to be respectful of local ordinances.   If these signs are in violations of City ordinances or election laws we are calling on him to immediately move these signs.

We ask our readers if they see any other political signs that are improperly placed on the public right away please contact us at City-County Observer@live.com.  Once its determined that a political sign is illegally placed on the public right a way we shall ask the candidates to immediately move it.

EDITORS FOOTNOTE: We are asking our readers to “like page” on Facebook and encourage friends and family to do so, as well?

 If you would like to advertise in the CCO please contact us City-County Observer@live.com.

Todays “Readers Poll” question is: Do you feel that “Keep Evansville Beautiful” should take a more active role in keeping political signs off the public right a way?

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7 COMMENTS

  1. Isn’t Schmitt the one who stretched his resume? Didn’t it take him 3 times to pass the Bar exam?

    • Requiring multiple times to pass the Bar is not at all “uncommon”. Stretching his resume, different issue altogether.

  2. This topic stirred a memory, so I went and did my usual research. I knew I had heard this topic before, and I found it in 2012.

    In reference to your poll today and this subject, Keep Evansville Beautiful has always taken a very active roll in the issue of political signs.

    However, Keep Evansville Beautiful was also vilified by local politicians, especially the Evansville City Council over a polite request to assist in helping candidates aware of the laws, rules, and regulations regarding political signs.

    You can see the evidence of this from 2012, when Keep Evansville Beautiful prepared and presented a suggested guideline to the Evansville City Council. The guideline was a suggestion for candidates for office, and it was presented to them and the Vanderburgh County Commission, and the only part of the request was to ask for their support so that this guideline would be handed to every candidate who signed up to run for office.

    Keep Evansville Beautiful was fortunate to get support from the County Clerk and the Election office for this handout, which was compiled with a copy of all local, state, and federal guidelines and regulations for where signs (and especially political signs) could be placed. The handout gave concrete examples of where and when signs could be placed, and it gave candidates information regarding the proper procedures for their political signs.

    Of all the municipal bodies approached, only the City Council voiced what could only be described as complaints, with one City Council member going so far as to call the efforts by Keep Evansville Beautiful to assist candidates to assure political signs are properly placed and maintained as “Mickey Mouse” and “Silly” The efforts from Keep Evansville Beautiful to only provide regulatory advice so political signs and the volunteers who help candidates are fully informed was derided and ignored.

    Now we once again are into the season where these types of signs are placed, and far too many of them are already being seen as placed in places where it is either ill-advised or illegal.

    Perhaps the two local parties and their Chairs should ask Keep Evansville Beautiful to once again prepare and publish the documents to assist candidates, which would keep our community much better looking. I feel very confident that the document from 2012 is still in-force and would be something that could assist candidates.

    • Wow, someone wants Keep Evansville Beautiful to be the sign police. Crazy stuff thinking they can confiscate an ill-advised sign. North Korean all the way.

      • Really? That is the asinine response? Your “sign police” and “North Korea” comments are ignorant and uninformed.

        So let me clarify for you, and I’ll try and use small words.

        The efforts by Keep Evansville Beautiful in 2012 was to pull together all the laws, rules, and regulations that covered the placement of signs in the community. This was impacted by more than just Evansville and Vanderburgh County rules, it was impacted by state and federal regulations as well.

        While some candidates are veterans at the political games, some are new, and many or volunteers. The various campaigns use a tremendous amount of volunteer help, and I am comfortable in saying that 99% of them are NOT fluent in where campaign signs can be placed.

        This is more than just a local beautification issue, it is also a safety issue. It would be tragic if a campaign volunteer was injured or even killed because they were intent on placing a campaign sign in the median of a dangerous or high-traffic intersection, since a sign in ANY intersection is ABSOLUTELY illegal all the time.

        The entire focus of Keep Evansville Beautiful was not to be the enforcement arm, and confiscation of signs was not anywhere in their effort. Their effort was completely in line with their mandate to “work with residents, neighborhood associations, business owners, schools and others to dramatically improve our communities’ environment and aesthetics”

        Anybody with an iota of common sense and pride in the local community would applaud them for publishing a guideline to assist campaigns and their volunteers in learning what was appropriate and legal. This also avoids costing the campaigns lost money when city, county, and state agencies who DO take down illegal signs from tossing them in the trash.

        The bottom line is that this will be a busy campaign season, and it is far better to get ahead of people placing signs illegally like the above case. If a candidate does not know the rules, then this effort by Keep Evansville Beautiful is an effort to educate them.

        How in the hell is that wrong?

        • Wow, chill down classy. You posted about “ill advised” signs. That’s sign police. Just plant trees. or flowers.

  3. There seems to be a trend in local government whereby it is more and more taking on the face of the government in Washington, where everyone and their brother are attorneys. That is very disturbing for a government that is designed to be representative of the majority of citizens. I do not believe in quotas, but come on, just what would be a reasonable representation of lawyers in the United States Congress, or local city/county government?

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