Political sign snafu in Shoreline

With the political season in full swing in Shoreline, political signs are popping up everywhere. And some are disappearing.

Shoreline resident Myra Adams said on Oct. 2 she got a visit from someone who claimed to be with the city and told her she must remove the election signs from her yard because they are in the public right-of-way.

Adams, who lives in the 1200 block of NW 199th place, has Mike Jacobs and Rich Gustafson signs posted within the landscaping of her yard.

“The person did not offer any city credentials and as he drove away, I saw he had Cindy Ryu and Maggie Fimia signs in his truck,” Adams said.

Adams immediately called the city.

LaDonna Smith, Shoreline’s customer response team supervisor, said it is not the city’s policy to have someone going door to door asking people to remove political signs from their yards.

“We have no policy against posting political signs on your private property. If it is on private property we do not remove them,” Smith said.

“We do remove signs that are improperly placed in city planter strips and (the) right-of-way blocking pedestrian walkways, impeding people from opening their car doors or blocking line of sight,” she said.

Those signs are taken to the police station headquarters for candidates to pick up.

“The city’s customer response team wears jackets and shirts that have the city logo on them, and drive a city vehicle with the city logo on it as well,” Smith said.

City Council candidate Cindy Ryu said, “We’ve actually told our campaigners to not touch other people’s signs.”

Ryu added that after the primary election, about 300 of her signs disappeared or were mangled.

“The reality is that I’m probably suffering way more than anyone else because I have more signs out there and they are getting damaged and disappearing,” Ryu said.

Fimia said, “We have told our supporters and volunteers to stay away from other people’s signs. It’s happened from both sides and it’s certainly not directed by either campaign. We actively discourage it.”

Richmond Beach resident Anthony Polland said on Oct. 2 he was doing a public service for the city by picking up signs that were mangled and littering the right-of way.

He said he also went to a few homes to talk to the homeowners about the signs they have posted.

“When I would see a cluster of signs around a house, I would go up to the door and ask the people about their signs being in the right-of-way,” he said.

“When asked, I said I was a volunteer for the city of Shoreline,” Polland said. “In my truck I had signs for all the candidates,not just one or two.”

Polland said he was only trying to clean up the city, and now regrets making the effort.

“It was looking pretty ratty out there, so I was doing this as a public service,” Polland said. “But when I talked with one candidate, they said while this was a good idea in intent, it could easily be twisted around, and that’s exactly what happened here.”