Bad signs

For a brief moment, I thought my campaign against yard signs was gaining ground. One big-name candidate in Charlotte joined the cause.

Her campaign manager said, “As part of our commitment to a more sustainable Charlotte, we’ve decided not to pollute Charlotte’s roads, our right-of-ways, and our green spaces with yard signs, and we’re calling on our opponents to cut down on yard sign pollution as well.”

The candidate? Charlotte Mayor Jennifer Roberts, who lost her primary the next day.

Her loss surprised a lot of smart people. They blamed low turnout, the HB2 controversy and her handling of a police shooting.

But yard-sign fans know why she lost.

Clearly, nobody took my advice in Raleigh. There are ugly yard signs along roads and streets all over town.

Most of them are awful, even if you like yard signs. Empty space. Weak pastel colors. Names too small to make out. (I’m talking about you, Stacy Miller.)

If you’re driving any speed at all, you can’t even read most of them. Especially us geezers, who are most likely to vote.

If your signs aren’t big and bold, what’s the point?

(Note: It helps to have a name made for yard signs. “Jim Hunt” was perfect. Seven letters.)

The last nail in the coffin came from a TAPster here in Raleigh, who left this message:

“While I generally agree with you, there is one set of circumstances in which yard signs are extremely valuable, and I just encountered that circumstance in my neighborhood. I’ve been debating who to vote for in the at-large City Council races, and I just passed one of my neighbors’ homes. She has a yard sign for one candidate. Knowing her politics and knowing her views about things generally, the fact that she is supporting this candidate means that I absolutely, positively will never vote for that candidate.

“So there is a good use for a yard sign. My neighbor has solved my dilemma for me quite easily.”

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