Abundance of campaign signs expected to slowly disappear from public view

Before the polling places even opened Tuesday, Imperial Irrigation District Director John Pierre Menvielle’s campaign signs could already be seen disappearing from public view.

With the help of a map dotted with hundreds of pins corresponding with the signs’ exact locations, more than 40 of his 400 2-foot-by-7-foot signs were retrieved by day’s end.

After factoring in gas and labor expenses, Menvielle estimates each sign set him back about $40.

“I spent an easy $16,000,” he said.

Aware of fines he could also incur if he fails to remove the signs on time, he expects to have them all removed within eight days.

“It takes a lot longer to get them out than to pick them up,” Menvielle said.

Yet, as effective as campaign signs might be at building name recognition, they also have a tendency to become a source of contention when not removed from public sight in a timely manner.

During the run-up to the election, Central Union High School District board candidate Ryan Childers recalls being approached by a local resident with such concerns. The man kept questioning whether the sign Childers and crew were in the process of posting was going to be abandoned post-election.

Despite their assertions that it would eventually be removed, the man remained skeptical. Finally Childers had to identify himself and give the resident his personal guarantee.

To cover the large area corresponding with the school district, Childers employed 500 double-sided yard signs as well as several 4-foot-by-8-foot signs. He expects to have them all removed early next week, he said.

Having gotten to know the competing candidates over the course of the campaign season, Childers said he has made arrangements with three of his former competitors to retrieve each other’s campaign signs.

“It’s an issue of common sense,” Childers said.

El Centro Planning Director Norma Villicana said she doesn’t recall abandoned campaign signs ever rising to the level of a major nuisance, nor having to cite or fine anyone.

“There is always one or two that are left after the 14 days,” she said, referring to the time a city ordinance gives candidates and their supporters to remove signs from public view.

In Holtville, signs must be removed 10 days after an election, while 30 days are allotted in Calexico, according to their respective ordinances.

In Brawley, signs have to be removed 15 days after an election ends.

Sal Perez, Imperial County superintendent for the California Department of Transportation, said the agency had to remove a greater amount of signs last year from the public right away than this year during the campaign season.

“Most candidates are aware,” he said, referring to the restrictions regulating signs in the public right of way. “Word is getting out about where they can and can’t place them.”

Of the few instances Brawley Community Development Services building official Francisco Soto can recall having to contact a candidate to remove a sign from the public right of way, it has been for a statewide election contest. 

His office will typically give an offender five to six days to comply.

“People have been pretty responsive,” he said. “The great majority of the time they are removed.”

Nor have county personnel encountered any “flagrant” violations of code that also prohibits such signs in the public right of way on county roads, said county Public Works Director Bill Brunet.

IID spokeswoman Marion Champion also noted that abandoned campaign signs have not been a major concern for the district for some time now.

The IID has an unstated policy of allowing candidates to place signs on IID property for the span of the campaign season.

“The candidates in general have been very responsible,” she said.

While not directly involved with the production of his clients’ campaign signs, Conveyer Group owner Aaron Popejoy said he did help design and strategically place some of the signs and banners seen throughout the Valley.

Popejoy also said he was “pleasantly surprised” at how quickly they disappeared after the June primaries.

Although the use of such signs has risen dramatically in the Valley in recent times, Popejoy said he could only venture a guess as to the total amount employed this election season.

“There’s one for every voter,” he said jokingly.

Staff Writer, Copy Editor Julio Morales can be reached at 760-337-3415 or at jmorales@ivpressonline.com

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