End of the line for political signs

With the 2008 election behind us, it’s time to get rid of the evidence.

Namely, candidate yards signs.

In Coeur d’Alene and Post Falls, city ordinances require candidates to take down their yard signs within four days of an election.

After that, the cities collect the signs and assess a per-sign removal fee to the candidate or campaign - $10 in Post Falls and $20 in Coeur d’Alene.

For most local candidates, that means picking them up themselves.

“I was out there I thought I had everything done on Wednesday,” the day after the election, said Kootenai County Commissioner and victorious candidate Rick Currie. But driving around this past weekend, he spotted one he missed.

One of his biggest pet peeves, he said, is people who leave their old campaign signs out for too long. So if you see one of his, do him a favor, he said. Call him.

“If they’re out there, I want to know about it,” he said. “Please call, and I’ll get out to get it.”

Fellow Commissioner Todd Tondee echoed that remark.

“At lot of people put them out for us and we don’t know where they all are,” he said, adding that he thinks he has all of his. “If there are some that are out there for a long time, and people drive by, it would be a nice thing for them to call the candidate or the party and say, “Hey, I saw your sign there.’ ”

Kootenai County doesn’t regulate political signs, so in theory, signs could stay up for a long time.

Most candidates, Currie and Tondee agree, use common sense to get the signs down as quickly as possible.

“Everybody wants them down,” Currie said. “They’re a necessary evil. They go with the territory. But they are expensive so we’d like them back.”

In Post Falls and Coeur d’Alene, candidates, campaigns or political parties must take out permits to display signs, and must designate a person responsible for taking them down. Kootenai County Democratic Party Chairman Thom George, for example, signed the permits for the Walt Minnick and Barack Obama campaigns, putting him in charge of sign collection.

As if there were Obama signs to pick up. Supporters seem to be keeping them as souvenirs.

“The only Obama sign I have is the one that was at my house,” George said. After the Democrats’ election night party, a big, 2-by-4 foot Obama sign disappeared. Destined for eBay, perhaps?

Nah, George said.

“I have a feeling it’s hanging up in somebody’s family room.”