Election Day and

the signwatchers were out there:


A new illegally-placed Iya Falcone sign was spotted, right in front of Rep. Capps' home, in front of the legal Blum sign. Gets high marks for chutzpah, if nothing else.


Grant House had an illegal sign on 517 Stanley.


Another report came in of 4 illegal PUEBLO signs at about Bath/Micheltorena. Only one new one was found on Bath Street - and the previously cited one stuck on the power pole on Micheltorena, doing double service as a garage sale notice.



Perennial signage scofflaws, at least for some of their signs, Ebenstein-Tyler signs remain on Las Positas, but, mirable dictu, small scale of such things, the Terry Tyler sign on E. Mission has been moved to the fence.

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Positive news from two reporters:
"A first in modern day elections. All I did today was look for trouble--and I found none."

And from another: "At 0930 this morning, NO signs posted outside the 2 large precincts at Harding School Recreation Center,nor in the public parkway on the same Gillespie Street.

During the election Nov. 2004, lots of all kinds of signs were there, easily within 50 feet of the door to the voting room."

This correspondent also wrote: "A more detailed report on candidates and proposition signage violations would be great a few days after the election, especially to note which illegally placed signs do not get removed even days later."


This blog will remain open. City sign law, quoted below, requires that signs be down by 10 days after the election.

THE DAY BEFORE, illegal signs newly reported

Iya Falcone (ifalcone@ci.santa-barbara.ca.us) at Hidden Valley, Calabria Drive (?) and other illegal Falcone signs reported here and to the candidate's address remain in place;



Roger Horton (rhorton@ci.santa-barbara.ca.us) at State near Constance - previously reported with the Loretta Redd sign, moved to private property;
Update, 11/8: Horton sign removed, but also so was the legally-placed Redd one. We've heard many reports of sign theft....


and 1107 Portesuello



Grant House (grant@granthouse.us) Hidden Valley (? - the reporter wasn't certain of the exact street location);




Charles/Carlos Quintero (no e-mail address) de la Guerra and Bath and other illegal Quintero signs reported here remain in place;







There are many illegally-placed NO on 75 signs throughout town. A correspondent wrote, "There are a large amount of signs that say: Fireman for No on 75. There are a good number of these signs on Las Positas, Cliff Dr. on the Wilcox property and on Meigs Rd and Carrillo. Pat McElroy, fire captain, former head of the fire union at 563-0420 should be able to deal with this." Another correspondent did call the fire department about this, reporting "'Firefighters Say No On 75' sign on the strip of public land between Meigs Road and Washington Elementary School, across from La Mesa Park."

In addition, many illegally-placed California Teachers Association signs are around town. What a lesson to the populace: the police union, the firemen, the teachers association, all thumbing their noses at the City Sign Ordinances. (Thanks to Loretta Redd, however, working with Mike McGrew on the issue, the police union signs have come down.)

Less than 2 days to go and more Illegal signs

E-mailed by several correspondents:



Several Iya Falcone signs, illegally-placed at 23 Chase Drive and at San Rafael near Santa Rita. Update, 11/7: signs remain.



PUEBLO sign illegally-placed at Micheltorena and Bath. Update 11/7: sign remains.



Terry Tyler sign stays on the public parkway at Mission/Anacapa area.Such seeming nose-thumbing at a long-standing city ordinance says something about the "citizen candidate," it seems to these also citizens who're associated with this blog.


Dianne Channing illegally-posted sign at 100-200 W. Sola. Update, 11/6, from Dianne Channing, "Thanks for the info. It will be gone by tomorrow morning!" and on Monday, the sign was gone.


Loretta Redd and Roger Horton signs sharing a public parkway (and adjacent lots) on State near Constance. Update, 11/7: Loretta Redd signed moved off the public parkway to the hedge.



All around town are illegally-placed California Teachers Association signs urging NO on 74,75, 76 or just 75, by the Firefighters; two photos were sent in today, de la Vina/Micheltorena and Canon Perdido/de la Vina; one Yes on the propositions at Las Positas and Modoc was seen, sign ownership unknown.

CA Political Signage law:

NO SIGNAGE WITHIN 100 FEET OF A POLLING PLACE. If you see such political signage, notify the polling place workers who will then contact the City Elections office.

Take a photo of the sign and send the photo here (signs05@cox.net); we'll post those photos and forward them on to the DA's office. It is a misdemeanor to violate these provisions of the CA Elections Code.

Let's keep this election fair for all!

CALIFORNIA ELECTIONS CODE:
http://www.aroundthecapitol.com/code/contents.html?sec=elec

CALIFORNIA ELECTIONS CODE

18370. No person, on election day, or at any time that a voter may be casting a ballot, shall, within 100 feet of a polling place or an elections official's office:
...

(b) Solicit a vote or speak to a voter on the subject of marking his or her ballot.
...

14240.
(d) Do any electioneering. As used in this section, "100 feet of a polling place or an elections official's office" means a distance 100 feet from the room or rooms in which voters are signing the roster and casting ballots. Any person who violates any of the provisions of this section is guilty of a misdemeanor.

One new illegally-posted Grant House sign reported on La Cumbre Road, just south of Foothill. Another Police sign (Falcone, Horton, Redd) reported on Ontare by Foothill but not photographed. Sunday update: Grant House wrote the sign would be removed and it is now removed.

Continuing illegal signs remain:
for Falcone (at Chino/Micheltorena and on Quinto - both noted below);

for Tyler and Ebenstein on Las Positas and Tyler on E. Mission (both noted below);

for Quintero, all over town;

for PUEBLO, in various spots on the East and West sides;

How one posts one's campaign signs, one's personal advertising, probably will not influence substantially the number of votes received. But to the assistants in this effort for fairness for all contestants, that some candidates choose to flout the city ordinance is indeed interesting ... and suggestive of how they view us, their electorate.

(NB: We've been non-partisan and above-aboard: every time there's been a mention on this blogsite of an illegally-posted sign, a message was sent to the campaign in question to move or remove the sign.)

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End of the campaign season CAMPSIGN kudos (or lack therof) to the following campaigns, in order:
Dianne Channing — not one illegal sign seen or reported!

Marty Blum: one sign seen/reported and that was quickly removed;

Roger Horton: one sign seen/reported and that was quickly removed;

Loretta Redd: several illegally-posted signs early in the campaign; moved or removed on notice and none in the last weeks;

Grant House: more than several illegally-posted signs, but efforts, successful ones, made to move/remove the signs;

Lanny Ebenstein: initial positive responses and moving of illegally-posted signs but not subsequently;

Iya Falcone: initial reported signs (that caused there to be this blog) moved/removed; subsequently, no response or action;

Terry Tyler: no responses;

Charles/Carlos Quintero: not contacted — he has illegal signs all over town. There should be a requirement that contact information is clearly written on each campaign sign.

The two endorsing organizations, the Police Association and PUEBLO, were probably equal in the amount of illegal signage. In the last week, newly-placed PUEBLO signs have been on private property; however, a number of previously-noticed ones remain. As for the police signs, thanks to Loretta Redd, taking responsibility, contacting Sgt. McGrew, the illegal signs downtown were removed.

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This signage effort is almost over, although we will be looking around the polling places for illegal signage.(No signage allowed closer than 100 feet to a polling place.)

Our efforts apparently have had quite an effect in addition to annoying the campaigns. The amount of illegal signage is definitely down, despite this being an intense contest. For those who responded by moving the signs, thank you. For those who didn't, well....

"You can run with the big dogs or sit on the porch and bark." It's not totally clear which we sign bloggers are doing, running, nipping at the heels, or just barking, but, whichever, we're out there, watching, recording. We intend to continue this effort for fairness in other local elections.

Faceoff of signs: one legal and one illegal at Chino/Micheltorena; 2nd notice sent about this sign. (Out of fairness, all candidates with illegally-posted signs get an e-mail from signs05@cox.net so that the campaign can take care of it ... or, as with this and some others, choose to continue to post campaign signs illegally on public property.)

Interesting to see who chooses to obey the City campaign laws and who does not.... Thanks to cds...@yahoo.com for the cellphone picture of these right-angled signs.

Illegal police sign returns to Anacapa St., just south of Sola, a correspondent e-mailed. Here are two pictures, from 10/29 and this evening, showing that someone replaced the illegal sign that was removed on Monday. (What arrogance! And how it reflects on all three Police Union-supported candidates!)

Another e-mail received at signs05@cox.net:
"Thank you for taking on the effort of keeping our public property free
of illegal campaign signs. From my observation, the situation is much
improved over previous elections. It's nice to know that I am not the
only one trying to get those with political agendas to adhere to the
law when posting the signs.
J...." (name deleted by this blog.)

Thanks. At the end of this week, we'll post an honor roll - and a dishonor roll - of this city campaign's political signage.

Iya Falcone sign: on Chino Street, near the Micheltorena intersection; reportedly at this location intermittently for several weeks.

Reminder of City sign regulations:

Allowed without permit:
22.70.030: B(5): A non-commercial sign not exceeding 6 square feet total for each lot in residential zones.... Such sign shall be erected only with the permission of property owner or tenant. ...(It) shall not be displayed for more than ten (10) days following the election for which it is erected.

22.70.090: Any sign, including its supporting structure, which is placed... on public property ... is illegal and subject to removal. ...Costs for the such removal shall be borne by the person benefited by the sign.

Citizen complaint forms are available at the Planning Department, 630 Garden Street, SB.

City Zoning Complaint line for signage telephone number: 897-2676.

One week to go before the election: those caring about fairness for all the candidates are invited to send reports, with street addresses, to this site (signs05@cox.net) where they'll be posted.

Continuing zoning signage violations, including (where possible) locations on private property without permission, will also be noted. (Formal citizen complaints are also encouraged, probably the only solution for Mr. Quintero's signs; notices are always sent to the candidates; of those with signs, only Mr. Quintero has no e-mail.)

It is our opinion, those who have helped this effort, that it is not right that some would-be lawmakers should strive to take advantage of other — law-abiding — candidates with their illegal personal advertising, their signage. Our efforts hope to encourage an atmosphere of respect and fairness.