Council Race Update

“Whoever has the most signs wins” – is it true? If so, contractors hired by city hall are wining. They’ve taken truckloads of signs from roadsides, public and private property, homeowner association common areas and retail centers.

Campaign signs are protected by the First Amendment. In 1994, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that political signs are protected free speech and cannot be regulated by municipalities. While safety concerns (e.g., impeding traffic) might be a reasonable cause for restrictions, making large-scale sweeps of signs prior to an election isn’t reasonable.

If city hall is claiming an aesthetic need to remove all the signs, how does this balance with the city placing unaesthetic stone outhouses along Crown Valley Parkway?

Ultimately, voters should judge whether candidates’ signs are too big, too numerous or poorly placed – he with the most signs loses. This year, the biggest loser would be Richard Sandzimier with 2,200 signs.

If the city’s 2010 sign removal policy seems unfair, compare it with the practice in 2000 when challengers’ signs were taken to the dump while incumbents’ signs were delivered to their homes.

Slate mailers began arriving two weeks ago, including a remarkable one, “Voting Guide for Republicans.” The title should be “Voting Guide for Republicans Who Aren’t Paying Attention.” This “Republican” slate recommends Bill Lockyear – a Democrat, along with a host of far-left liberals. Infamous RINO Abel Maldonado is on the slate, and so is Trish Kelley, who was rejected for the OC Republican endorsement.

The value of slate mailers was thoroughly tested in 2008 by council challenger Richard Atkinson. Atkinson apparently thought he should be on every slate that arrived in Mission Viejo mailboxes. He purchased spots on the Republican, Democrat, Independent, Asian-American, Left-handed Lawn Bowlers and Couch Potato slates. Despite having a professional consultant and all the slates money could buy, he lost.

The final Back-To-School nights were last week. The incumbent slate (Kelley, Leckness and Sandzimier) again didn’t attend. Most council candidates – including incumbents – don’t have enough supporters on their team to cover two school events on the same night. One candidate staged a rally for himself in front of a high school last week, which annoyed some parents to the point they refused to take his campaign literature.

Street-corner rallies have been minimal. The most noticeable aspect is that the incumbents don’t have nearly as many supporters as they had in the past.