Blocking out the scenery, breaking my mind...
Has anyone noticed that it's election season? In Pasadena you can barely find the business signs because of the slew of campaign signs up and down every road. District 31 also includes Glen Burnie and Brooklyn Park but you can tell by sign density that Pasadena is the real battleground.
I mentioned before that Jeremiah's campaign strategy was to buy 1,000 small yard signs and no big wooden signs. This makes sense according to our budget and our supporters- families and "the little guys" more than the big businesses and large lot owners. Well, I've determined a few drawbacks to this strategy.
Firstly, it takes a lot of space to hold 1,000 signs in your garage. And it takes a LOT of time and energy to get 1,000 signs distributed. Imagine finding 10 people to put up a sign and then getting to their houses to put them out. Multiply that amount of energy and time by 100. Yup. So we still have hundreds of signs in our garage. Of course, we already have hundreds out and that's awesome. Part of the strategy is to just wait until right before the general election and then distribute them like they're burning a hole in our garage. But in the meantime, I'm looking at a lot of signs.
Secondly, people keep taking our freakin signs. This is very frustrating. Many times now we've had someone put up a Chiappelli sign in their yard or in front of their building and then one day it's just gone. No reason. Sometimes we see it's gone and we give them a new sign; sometimes we don't know about it but we get a call that they want a new one. And unfortunately, sometimes people feel fear and intimidation taint their support and say that Jeremiah has their vote but they won't do a sign. It is a bit intimidating to me too!
And thirdly, there are tons of big wooden signs everywhere for the other candidates and these are not being taken down. One day the county came by and removed all the little campaign signs for anyone along the main roadway- Mountain Rd. Some of the little signs may have been too close to the road or something but not all of them. Jeremiah had 4 very legal signs in the yard of his office which is on Mountain Rd and the county took them all up! We know for a fact that they were allowed to be where they were bc we measured it ourselves. But when they sweep, they sweep. And they only took the small ones. It is a lot harder to whisk away a big heavy wooden sign nailed to someone's fence. Hmmm. Maybe that's a better investment strategy for next time?
But then again, the little signs are very appropriate considering that Jeremiah's the Cul de Sac campaigner. More than half of his sign locations are in cul de sacs or at houses at the end of a dead end street. These are the homes where families live, tucked away safe from the main roads. Those are the people that he's running to represent- the families concerned about being safe and protecting the future. And also people living in townhouses and communities where signs are forbidden. And, yes, also people with great locations for signs- and we thank them so much!
I look forward to driving around town and not seeing campaign signs everywhere. Without them it would be very hard for a non-incumbent to get the name recognition needed in an election. So the benefit outweighs the inconvenience and irritation. But I also look forward to our Thanksgiving trip in NC where I can drive without remembering who had what sign and who said yes or no to Jeremiah's signs. Pasadena will never look the same to me again.
No comments:
Post a Comment