{"id":1557,"date":"2017-04-11T15:45:44","date_gmt":"2017-04-11T20:45:44","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/truthinaddison.com\/?page_id=1557"},"modified":"2017-04-11T15:45:44","modified_gmt":"2017-04-11T20:45:44","slug":"dont-destroy-or-deface-candidates-political-signs","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"http:\/\/truthinaddison.com\/?page_id=1557","title":{"rendered":"Don\u2019t Destroy or Deface Candidates\u2019 Political Signs"},"content":{"rendered":"

Don\u2019t Destroy or Deface Candidates\u2019 Political Signs<\/strong><\/h3>\n

(How NOT To End Division in Addison)<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Susan M. Halpern<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Former Addison Councilmember (1992-1999)<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Please don\u2019t destroy or deface the political signs of Addison candidates. Even if you don\u2019t support a particular candidate, harming other people\u2019s property is wrong. We learned that in kindergarten, didn\u2019t we? And yet, we have a mayoral candidate encouraging residents to deface his opponent’s signs.<\/p>\n

As they say, you just can’t make it up.<\/p>\n

Start here: I hope and believe that all candidates for office in Addison seek permission before placing yard signs on someone\u2019s property. I encourage all of you to make the same assumption.<\/p>\n

So, may I respectfully suggest that if a mistake was made and a sign was improvidently placed on your property, that you consider handling it in a neighborly manner. The candidates all have web pages, and their emails and phone numbers are easy to obtain. Take a moment to advise them of the error, and I\u2019m certain they\u2019ll promptly remove\/retrieve any sign mistakenly placed on your property.<\/p>\n

Given my belief that what I\u2019ve described is the appropriate way to handle errors, I have to say that I was absolutely stunned to read that this mayoral candidate in Addison is now encouraging residents to deface the political signs of his opponent and others whose election he opposes. This is based on the unsubstantiated suggestion that unauthorized signs have been place on property in Addison.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m appalled. Beyond the obvious impropriety of encouraging destruction of other people\u2019s property, it sure feels like a cheap political stunt. Let\u2019s unpack it and I think you\u2019ll see what I mean.<\/p>\n

Start with the premise of the encouragement to deface signs, which is that a political candidate has supposedly placed political signs on someone\u2019s property without permission. Think about that for a moment. If such a thing happened, it would likely irritate the property owner. In turn, that would make it less likely that the property owner would vote for that candidate. So why would a candidate do that? There\u2019s just no percentage in it. Given all that, I submit that the premise of the call to deface signs is without merit.<\/p>\n

But let\u2019s go beyond the flawed nature of that underlying premise. This candidate\u2019s suggestion is that these supposedly aggrieved property owners should deface the offending sign and then place his sign next to it. I guess in his mind, it gets him a \u201ctwo-fer:\u201d a sign in support of his candidacy and an attack on his opponent, by way of the suggestion that the defaced sign is proof that his opponent placed a sign there initially without permission.<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s the problem. It just isn\u2019t that hard to get your hands on a sign for this candidate\u2019s opponent. And, deface it. And put it anywhere. And to then falsely claim that it is now proof that the other candidate\u2019s sign was improperly put there in the first place. When it really wasn\u2019t. I can\u2019t be the only one who thought that anyone willing to think this crazy scheme up in the first place might be willing to do exactly that.<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s my bottom line: Inciting Addison residents to deface other people\u2019s property is shameful and outrageous.<\/p>\n

This is NOT how we end division in Addison. But you know how we CAN bring Addison together? WE THE PEOPLE can VOTE to reject such rhetoric and reclaim the Addison Way.<\/p>\n

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