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Thursday, August 26, 2010

Signs Signs Everywhere There's Signs

Delta Election Signs on the Corner of Ladner Trunk and Highway 17
Delta Election Signs - Ladner Trunk and Highway 17
By Elvis Glazier - It has been said that the land in Delta is so fertile that if you stick a toothpick in the ground there will be leaves on it by morning. As the summer break draws to an end, the crop of election signs are starting to fruit. They have been springing up everywhere. A colouful collage of election signs with bold names and catchy slogans to feed Delta voters.

Sign crews work quickly and diligently, often in the dark of night, jockeying for the best locations to entice the electorate. The hot spots in Delta's public areas fill up quickly leaving very little space for late-comers. Then, before you have time to blink, they're gone. Another election over and the landscape is returned to it's natural state.

This year crews are working doubly hard to keep their candidates signs up. Not only do the candidates have to comply with bylaw and engineering crews taking down their signs, this year there has been a rash of vandalism trashing the placards that line the city streets. The vandals don't seem to be as gentle with the signs as the engineering crews who lay them down and call the candidates.

Delta Election Signs on the Corner of Ladner Trunk and Highway 17
Signs knocked over at Hwy 17 and Ladner Trunk
Earlier this week I had a chance to speak with Delta CAO George Harvie about the signs. "There are bylaws in place and each of candidate is provided with guidelines. We (the city) haven't done any sign removal yet but crews will be out," said Harvie before directing me the the city clerks office for more information. A call to city clerk Angila Bains gave me far more insght into the rules regarding the placement of election signs then any normal citizen should have. There are municipal bylaws that govern placement of signs on city land and deal with blocking views, especially at intersections, and placement in relation to other signs. Then there are provincial guidelines that deal with the provincial right of ways like Highway 17.

It's not uncommon to lose a few signs to vandalism during an election. The only difference is that this year the carnage seems to be far more prevalent, especially in the south, and no candidate is immune as all candidates have had their signs attacked. Many destroyed so badly they cannot be salvaged. And while no one knows who is responsible for these willful acts there have been a few stories of goodwill amongst the sign crews who have erected their rivals signs while doing their own. And while the candidates may disagree on many things there is still hope that, in the end, we can all work together.

15 comments:

  1. Good article Elvis. That's 2 in a row!

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  2. Since the sign debate is in full debate I'd like to wade in. Let's see, it's 1:42 on Aug 27 and I just drove past the election signs at Hwy 17 and 52 St. Wouldn't ya know it, everyone's sign was down.... except Paton's. As I've been driving to and from work lately I've definitely noticed the pattern. I think I'll start carrying my camera with me so I can photo this rather weird phenomena. Is it sort of like a crop circle thing?

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  3. Very curious what is happening with signs this byelection. Wherever signs have been illegally knocked down, there is always one left standing, Ian Paton's.

    It looks like Mr. Paton and/or his supporters are trying to intimidate Delta's populace? Then again it could be that only Ian Paton's campaign knows how to put up a sturdy sign, being a farmer and all? Could it be that the wind only blew down Mr. Paton's signs?

    Maybe the police should do a stake out on signs?

    I would suggest that Mr. Paton and his supporters are the main suspects here.

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  4. Astute comments folks. That's 2 in a row!

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  5. Elvis, where are the other responses that were posted here???

    Are you really so afraid of the truth????

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  6. The Ian Paton sign crew consists of many farmers and friends. We all have tools and pick up trucks and are out at least twice a day to put up our signs that are knocked down. If time permits, we will put up all the signs, not just our own.

    As for 10 & 17, we were told initially to put our two signs at the top of the knoll behind the fence because the ones down below were likely to get laid down by highways department. Ultimately they all did get laid down, except for our two up above on the fence.

    As for the rest, ours are down as much as everyone else's, but our crews are out often fixing them.

    If you really want to accuse me, please sign your name or give me a call. I would be happy to discuss this.

    Ian Paton

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  7. On more thing, the sign at 17 & 52 is on private property. That is why it did not get taken down by the highways department.

    Ian Paton

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  8. That's correct about the signs at 17 & 52. That's the Toigo property if I'm not mistaken. The property Mr. Paton spoke for in favour of development. Sure helps to have friends who can provide high places.

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  9. That's correct. In fact that is the only property that Ian Paton jr. has ever spoken about. He and many other farmers all came to the same conclusion. Too bad the previous owners dumped so much concrete, gravel and waste material on it. The costs to make that land viable farmland again was in the millions. That's right, that's the piece. The one they couldn't find a single farmer to speak in favour of saving.
    In fact, I drove by there last night and saw some of the other candidate's with their signs beside Ian Paton's on the Toigo property.

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  10. Is that true about the previous owner dumping waste material on the land? Why wasn't the previous owner fined for environmental cleanup. That really saddens me.

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  11. Is that true about the previous owner dumping waste material on the land? Why wasn't the previous owner fined for environmental cleanup. That really saddens me.

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  12. How was the owner allowed to get away with the dumping? Are there no laws on the books that forbid people from polluting their land?

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  13. I'm not sure if it was "waste" material rather than fill material. Either way it was not good and I'm not sure how this happened. It was many years ago.

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  14. Actually at the all candidate meeting one of the things that Ian Paton said that he would like to see stopped is people with farmland being allowed to obtain permits to dump on their land and collect money for it by the load.

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  15. I must say that I am absolutely appalled at the lawn signs everywhere for this election. I thought everyone was much smarter these days re: the environment. The ones I am talking about are made of cheap plastic with a heavy wire frames. These signs are blowing all over the place, ending up in the ditches, the slews, fields and roadway edges. They will end up in municipal mowers, farmer's machinery, pumping and irrigation systems as well as just garbage on the sides of the roads.

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