Illinois Valley News

“Sign, sign, everywhere a sign.“

That“s part of the chorus to a song by Five Man Electrical Band, and with the May 18 primary election looming, it“s apt, as many of the 11 candidates running for Josephine County Commissioner Position 1 are pulling out all the stops to garner as much support as possible.

That includes advertising, making appearances at candidate forums, knocking on doors and putting signs in prime real estate locations and along busy thoroughfares.

But this election season already has seen allegations of sign-stealing shenanigans between different campaigns, plus accusations of threats being made against property owners, and at least one verified confrontation among supporters of rival candidates.

The city of Cave Junction also has become involved, and sent a letter on Friday, March 26 to all of the commissioner candidates informing them of the municipal sign code.

Most candidates have shown no indication that they intend to raise money or utilize signs to spread their message. But two of the candidates have the built-in advantage of having run for commissioner in previous elections, and happened to have some signs pre-purchased and ready for placement.

Incumbent Dave Toler, an Illinois Valley resident, said that he had approximately 100 signs from his 2006 campaign. He has ordered between 400 and 500 more for this race, and added that they were “not cheap.“

“I was the last to be putting them out,“ Toler said. “It“s still early at this point.“

Grants Pass resident Jack Brown said that he started this campaign with some 450 yard signs and 30 larger signs left from his 2008 bid against Commissioner Dwight Ellis. As such, he only had to purchase 250 smaller signs and 50 larger ones for the current campaign.

“It did save us some money going into the race, having as many as we had,“ Brown said.

Illinois Valley resident Simon Hare has never run for political office before, so he was starting from scratch after filing for commissioner.
Since then, Hare has purchased 1,000 yard signs and 40 to 50 larger signs.

Tony Paulson is no stranger to politics, having served as Cave Junction“s mayor and on the city council. But he committed to buying 200 yard signs, and has placed them throughout Grants Pass and Illinois Valley.

Toler noted that during this race, there have been “a ton of illegal signs out there.“

“Pretty much every sign you see by the highway, those are all illegal signs,“ he said.

Cave Junction City Recorder Jim Polk said that the notice he sent to candidates last month was prompted by complaints about signs being in the public right-of-way.

“It was identified that there are candidate signs being placed in and around the city in violation of the city of Cave Junction“s municipal code,“ Polk wrote. “The city encourages all citizens to be active in the election process, but wants to ensure a “level playing field“ is available to any candidate.“

The city“s municipal code states that “not more than one sign for each candidate or ballot measure shall be placed on a single parcel of land.“ Signs must be placed less than 15 feet from the front curb or edge of the pavement, and Polk warned candidates in the letter that any signs in the public right-of-way will be removed.

Of course, signs can be removed in other ways. Brown reported that as of the end of March, he has lost between 50 and 60. He said that around 20 were lost in a single night.

“I don“t know if the other guys experienced the same level that I did, because I had more signs up than they did,“ Brown said.

He estimates that he lost some 35 percent of his signs during the 2008 campaign.

“I“m not complaining. It“s part of the overhead of a campaign,“ Brown said. “You can“t put a policeman beside each sign. But it reflects a level of desperation by somebody. It could be other candidates and their supporters. Some could be the result of vandalism, where people are pulling them up and throwing them.“

Toler said that he lost “around 10 to 20 percent“ of his signs in 2006. He said some of that may have been politically motivated.

“That“s all part of it, unfortunately,“ Toler said. “But some of it is people knocking them down just to knock them down and ripping them up just to rip them up.“

Hare said that he hasn“t lost many signs, but added that it may be because he asks property owners for permission before putting them up. Toler said that he also asks for permission, and is careful to avoid placing signs in the public right-of-way.

As the sun returns with the spring season, the candidates plan to ramp up efforts to visit voters at their homes.

Toler already has been canvassing neighborhoods in Illinois Valley and Grants Pass. He said that he will be doing much more.

“You want to get out there and do what you can to try and knock on some doors all throughout the county,“ Toler said. “There are a lot of voters out there.“

Hare said he has thus far canvassed in Grants Pass, Williams and Cave Junction. He also has held meet and greet events at grange halls and other facilities throughout the county, and had smaller event at supporters“ homes.

Brown said that he has canvassed in past elections, and “plans to do quite a bit more of it“ once the weather clears up.

“I will be doing a little of it everywhere, but mostly in Grants Pass,“ Brown said. “There are a lot of houses close together. You have to go where you can get to the most people.“

When canvassing Grants Pass, Brown is literally following the footsteps of his father, who spent years on a mail route as a postal carrier.

Brown said that he also plans to be in front of all of the post offices in the county and at the Growers Market in Grants Pass.

Toler said that when soliciting votes from the public, a candidate must engage in a sort of “balancing act.“

For example, Toler said, if several candidates crowd in front of a post office at the same time to try and reach out to residents, that can be “highly irritating to people.“

“It starts having a counter-effective effect on voters,“ he said. “You have to try to respect their space.“

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