Campaign Sign letter to editor published

The Birmingham News published our letter to the editor about campaign signs. We'll be watching the runoff candidates! Click here for a link to the letter. Here's the text:

Candidates should clean up signs:

Candidates for Birmingham City Council talked about cleaning up neighborhoods, but some of those same candidates trashed their communities with illegal campaign signs.

A major complaint from citizens during campaigns is signs tacked on poles, taped to posts and stuck in medians. People who don't mind the signs too much during the election get upset when the signs stay up for weeks, months or years after the election.

Scenic Alabama mailed a letter to all the qualifiers for Birmingham City Council asking them to place their signs only on private property with permission. We reminded them city law prohibits signs from being attached to anything in the right of way. State law prohibits any kind of sign on state-controlled highways or interstate on-ramps.

Many, if not most, of the candidates respected the law and the citizens' wishes. But those who didn't made some parts of our city look like a trash bin had exploded. They showed a disrespect for the law and for the community, basically saying, "You don't deserve to have a clean, nice neighborhood."

So, candidates, clean up your messes, and let's see if we can have future elections without illegal signs. Our citizens deserve it.

Lisa Harris

Executive director

Scenic Alabama

Downtown