Ohhhh... dirty pool.
What’s dumber than stealing lawn signs? Getting caught stealing lawn signs. What’s even dumber than that? Using a campaign official’s car as your get-away vehicle. Why didn’t they just hold a press conference and let the media watch the Madia Sign Theft Operation in action?
A campaign volunteer for Democratic-Farmer-Labor Congressional candidate Ashwin Madia stole lawn signs advertising the Republican candidate, Eric Paulsen, and got caught on camera doing it:
What’s dumber than stealing lawn signs? Getting caught stealing lawn signs. What’s even dumber than that? Using a campaign official’s car as your get-away vehicle. Why didn’t they just hold a press conference and let the media watch the Madia Sign Theft Operation in action?
A campaign volunteer for Democratic-Farmer-Labor Congressional candidate Ashwin Madia stole lawn signs advertising the Republican candidate, Eric Paulsen, and got caught on camera doing it:
http://www.minnesotademocratsexposed.co … -incident/Last evening I meet a friend who works for Erik Paulsen’s campaign at the Perkins’ in Maple Grove. I had pulled into the parking lot for Perkins and I was talking with my friend, when we noticed someone walk across the street and take two Paulsen for Congress lawn signs out of the ground from the property across the street from the Perkins. I was stunned - this woman was stealing Paulsen for Congress lawn signs in front of a staffer for the campaign and a part-time research consultant to the campaign.
I always carry at least one video camera with me at all times, so I gave my video camera to my friend and he filmed the woman walking back into the Perkins’ parking lot with the Paulsen for Congress lawn signs. When confronted, the woman first claimed she was just “a private citizen…” But after I noticed the car she was driving had a Ashwin Madia for Congress bumper sticker, she admitted that she “also happened to be a Madia volunteer.”
Not a huge deal.. but sure is funny to see what people campaign volunteers will do to "protect the publics right of way".“(f) Placement of signs on right-of-way or public land.
(1) No sign other than governmental signs shall be erected or placed for any period of time within or upon any public land except as may be authorized in this subsection.
(2) Only governmental signs, signs for a rummage sale posted no more than 120 hours in any eight-day period and signs advertising the sale of real estate between the hours of 6:00 p.m. Friday to 6:00 a.m. Monday may be erected or placed within any public right-of-way or easement. No nongovernmental sign shall be placed in a public right-of-way abutting private property unless permission to place such a sign is first obtained from the owner, occupant or other person having control of the abutting private property.
(3) Any sign other than governmental signs remaining on such property in excess of 120 hours in any eight-day period, or placed for any length of time in violation of subsection (2) of this subsection, may be summarily removed by the city or other governmental agency owning such public right-of-way or easement and, at its discretion, destroyed.
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Here’s the deal about right-of-way. I’ve seen signs from all sorts of campaigns erected in public right-of-ways. Sometimes it is done on purpose. But I would suspect that most improperly placed signs are there because volunteers don’t know what the rules are.
The removal of signs from the right-of-way is specified throughout the code to be solely executed by the city or other governmental agency owning the right-of-way.
So this inspired lawyer clown from the Madia campaign that was taking down signs was indisputably beyond her pay grade.
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