Campaign signs tell me who needs replacing

Dear Editor,

"Signs, signs, everywhere a sign. Blockin' out the scenery, breakin' my mind."

The Five Man Electrical Band called it decades ago. As campaign season descends upon us, our town is once again blanketed in them. Big, obnoxious campaign signs.

While both parties certainly bend town code from time to time, there is clearly one side that takes the gold medal for the sheer amount, size and aggressive placement of their political billboards. This used to really bother me. But recently I’ve learned to look at it from a much more appreciative angle. These massive signs are actually performing a public service. They remind us exactly who is responsible for the current state of things.

Take the center of the Yorktown Heights business district. It has become a Mad Max-esque hellscape of massive traffic congestion, people disobeying traffic laws, and aggressive driving. When you are sitting there in gridlock, just look up. Towering right above you are the large signs telling you exactly who is responsible for the overdevelopment that added all those cars to our once-picturesque streets.

As a quick aside, it is worth noting those signs are planted there by the landlords of the strip malls, not the businesses themselves. I have spoken to local businesses in Yorktown and not every individual business owner supports these candidates. Sadly, fear of retribution from their landlords keeps them silent. So much for these officials being pro-small business. Nothing screams grassroots support quite like forcing your signage onto properties whose tenants fear retaliation from their highly political landlords if they ask for equal signage for opposition candidates.

You will also notice massive signs planted proudly on the vacant property and failed hotel site at Commerce Street and Veterans Road. Curious who refuses to hold vacant property owners accountable? Or who changed the zoning laws to allow a hotel only to watch the plans collapse into dust? Look no further than the helpful names and photographs on the signs.

Then there are the water main breaks. With dozens upon dozens of them, you can be assured that campaign signs are illegally placed on public property near the resulting puddles. So when you find yourself wondering who has failed to present a plan for our crumbling infrastructure, just look for the signs. They belong to the people opting to slap on Band-Aids while providing no clear plan to address any of our infrastructure needs.

Vacant lots. Overdeveloped neighborhoods. Failing infrastructure. All the mistakes of the incumbents have been conveniently and properly labeled with their own campaign signs. It really takes the guesswork out of the voting booth.

I will be supporting Jann Mirchandani, Pete Harckham and Cait Conley this year for a lot of reasons, but the biggest one is simple. The opposition has so thoughtfully marked everything they have broken.

-Steven Shaw, Yorktown