25 replies to this topic

[drew]

I usually feel pretty invested in municipal elections but have gotten turned off this year. Initially what lessened my enthusiasm was the inordinately large slate of candidates for Victoria city council. I feel that some of these candidates are frivolous and have no valid qualifications. But what has really disenfranchised me, and this may be seen also as frivolous, is the indiscriminate use of campaign signs. This has really gotten out of hand. Especially the Dean Fortin campaign team. I counted almost 20 of his signs at one intersection. Along Cook St. between Pandora and Fort St there must be dozens. And some of the other candidates seem to have followed suit. It is as if they believe that the number of votes they get is commensurate with the number of signs. I see this as not only an eye sore, but huge wasteful and distasteful. As a result, I won't vote for a mayoralty candidate.

[Mike K.]

The signs are an eyesore. And you're right, the Fortin/Madoff/Hunter signs are plastered in unnecessarily large groupings across much of the city. It's lame.

[Chris J]

I keep hearing people express there disapproval for certain things by not voting. I often concur, and have given up on federal politics.
However, following municipal events much more closely, I would say that a non-vote is a vote for Dean, so it defeats the purpose of sitting this one out if you don't want the popular incumbent to win.

[Joseph]

I'd just like to point out that four of the seven 'active' mayoral candidates do not have any signs at all this year; retracting a mayoral vote altogether seems radical under the circumstances.

Saul Anderson
Georgia Anne-Jones
Roland Taylor
and Hugh Kruzel

[Lover Fighter]

In the case of an election like this years municipal where there are dozens of candidates, I think name recognition may play a more important role to the casual voter. So even though I agree they are an eyesore, I can understand the extreme number of signage some candidates are hoping will win them votes.

[Caramia]

Hugh Kruzel is well worth talking to. He's solid, patient and has a really good record in the community. My feeling is that if he had a web-presence, and more funding for his campaign he would have been a front-runner. I'd love to see him on council.

[Bernard]

I have ten signs on my lawn now, I think, I will have to go out and count again.

Signs are important to get the message out that you are in the race and serious. It is also a good way to get your URL out.

Most people do not vote in local elections because they do not know who the candidates are, getting names out on signs is vitally important.

Back to my signs - if you support a candidate CALL THEM and get a sign on your lawn. Your endorsement matters with your neighbours and will boost their knowledge and mean more people will vote.

[drew]

10 signs on your lawn, Bernard? That strikes me as unnecessarily wasteful. What is the point? Name recognition is one thing, over saturation and redundancy is another. What are those signs made of and where will they wind up? Doesn't seem very responsible to me.

[Bernard]

They are signs for 10 different candidates, not 10 signs for one candidate.

Most of them are talking about saving the signs for 2011.

[Tim Van Alstine]

I usually feel pretty invested in municipal elections but have gotten turned off this year. Initially what lessened my enthusiasm was the inordinately large slate of candidates for Victoria city council. I feel that some of these candidates are frivolous and have no valid qualifications. But what has really disenfranchised me, and this may be seen also as frivolous, is the indiscriminate use of campaign signs. This has really gotten out of hand. Especially the Dean Fortin campaign team. I counted almost 20 of his signs at one intersection. Along Cook St. between Pandora and Fort St there must be dozens. And some of the other candidates seem to have followed suit. It is as if they believe that the number of votes they get is commensurate with the number of signs. I see this as not only an eye sore, but huge wasteful and distasteful. As a result, I won't vote for a mayoralty candidate.

I find amongst quite a few of candidates the way that signs have been use in this campaign way over the top. It is horrible visual pollution in the no. we are seeing. Many of us have had to invest is signs because if you don't have them it leaves supporters thinking, I guess you don't have any support. As to the Slate signs you have mentioned I feel the strategy was to choke up every site in site so no one else could use it. It was demonstration of thier muscle just like the letters to all union members and their families.
Cheers Tim

[Joseph]

Had my first sign vandalized then stollen today. I feel like a real candidate now - I have undergone the painful initiation process

[ted - 3 - dots]

Had my first sign vandalized then stollen today. I feel like a real candidate now - I have undergone the painful initiation process

------ it's kind of late in the game for that to happen.

Are you sure you didn't do it yourself...?
(ie: a lame attempt @ a "me-too" type of inclusion ) ...?????


ted... ( just kidding )

actually you should be very happy. One sign down , while the rest of the candidates have lost many more than that...!

---------- bottom line --------------

Your obviously respected for some strange reason...
(possibly ,,, because people like what you have to say...? )

Any-ways , when you get on council, would you be willing to talk to a few of us about building a tent-city in Oak-Bay...?

Not a "rag-tag" unregulated mis-mash ,
but a regulated tent city that improves upon the Portland & San-Fran model ...!!!!!!!!!!!!

;{-

[Barra]

The candidates got an email from the city's Transportation Dept. today telling us that they've received complaints about the signs at the corner of Cook and Dallas obstructing vision at the corner.

[Bernard]

Here is a pic of my corner and the signs I have. It is only 8 at the moment, a couple of signs have not shown up yet.

[mat]

Had my first sign vandalized then stollen today. I feel like a real candidate now - I have undergone the painful initiation process

Joseph - yep, you are not taken seriously until someone trashes not only policies but signs! Welcome to local politics!

[ted - 3 - dots]

Here is a pic of my corner and the signs I have. It is only 8 at the moment, a couple of signs have not shown up yet.

--------- 8 ...? ----------

Only 8 ...? I thought there was more people running for office than that...!


----- Advice ---- to help attract the missing sign's ---------


When my Buddy lose's their cat , we stand on the porch , and shake a "Box of Cat-Crunchies" ...!

The sound attracts Cat's from all over the neighborhood ...!
( so if we don't get the cat we want , we at least we get the cat we need ) ...!

;{-


tee hee hee ...!


--- Ps , thanks for the photo ---- the sign thing seems to be "Luck of the Draw" ...?

and you seem to be more " Lucky'er " than I was ...


ted...

[Coreyburger]

Almost lost a sign the other day. When I went to put up a new one, it was back. Ah, Oak Bay...

[Rob Randall]

I tried not to go overboard with the signs. I got 24 small ones and a couple of big ones. I know people complain about them and I understand.

I try to think of election signs in the same way I think about that other fall tradition in Victoria--horse chestnuts. They suddendly appear all over the place, making a big mess but only for a little while then they're gone.

It was hard to place them in good locations. Most of the prime spots were already taken up by the Fortin team.

I was angered today when I discovered the backs of some of my signs were spraypainted "DODDS". I spotted Tavis Dodds this evening, walking along with Jon Valentine and Kirsten Woodruff and another girl. I confronted him and told him what he did was not cool. He apologized, saying he got a little carried away and that it was no big deal since the back sides of the signs were like a blank canvas so it was a two-for-one. The young woman that was with them was baffled as to why I was angry. She kept asking me what exactly the problem was--after all, it was just a sign.

[Sue Woods]

I think there should be nine or ten places designated for signs and a limit on the number (like 50 per candidate.)

[Mike K.]

^that's a great idea.

I wish someone could have created a photo thread of signs to show just how overboard some candidates have gone (i.e. Dean/Madoff/Hunter). Yeesh, you'd think people would get the idea after one or two signs on a tiny parcel of grass instead of a dozen, but I digress...