Action 171 – ALERT - Road Signs and Postcards

1.  Road Signs:  Today in the Hancock County Democratic Committee office, while three of us were preparing postcard packets (see item 2), a rather bossy-sounding woman stormed in to tell us that our road signs were not legally marked.  When they are in the right-of-way, all political signs have to have a DATE and a CONTACT on them, per state law. (1) She was absolutely correct, even if she wouldn’t leave her name and we don’t know her motive.  This pertains to the Platner signs, the yellow “No on 1” signs, the “Resist” signs, and the signs you make yourself.   The red “no on 1” signs are already appropriately marked.  

Here is what you need to do:  Arm yourself with a “Sharpie”! (Just like you know who!)  On a sunny day, drive to the place where you put a sign (other than the red “no on 1” sign) in the road right-of-way.  Write on the sign – the white margin is appropriate – the approximate date you put up the sign, and provide some sort of contact info. Examples could include your phone number, or email address, or your town committee contact info (if it’s ok with them).  A quick fix for the black “resist” sign is to write on a small strip of white paper and cover it with clear packing tape.  (Plain scotch tape tends to loosen in bad weather.)  This is a hassle we can avoid in the future by labeling our signs BEFORE we place them.  Also note the signs can be in the right-of-way for no more than 6 weeks during January-June and another 6 weeks during July-December.

2.  Postcarding for NO on 1:  In the HCDC office there are packets of 30 very nice postcards, complete with stamps, names and addresses of recipients, and complete instructions.  If you have participated in postcard campaigns you know how enjoyable they can be.  Packets will be flying out of the office this week: better get yours ASAP.  The cards can be mailed as soon as completed, but in any case no later than October 25.  HCDC is particularly grateful for the donation of stamps.  A postcard stamp now costs 61 cents (can you believe it?) and we received enough stamps to send out 2000 postcards to Hancock County residents who are likely to be persuadable to vote NO on 1.  One hopes other Dem committees are as much on the ball!

Here’s the office info: until the November election it will be open 7 days a week from 10 am – 2 pm.  It’s located at 53 Church Street The phone number is (207) 664-6012.

They also have road signs in limited quantities.  (See item 1.)

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(1) Here is the language: L. Temporary signs placed within the public right-of-way for a maximum of 12 weeks per calendar year, except that a temporary sign may not be placed within the public right-of-way for more than 6 weeks from January 1st to June 30th or for more than 6 weeks from July 1st to December 31st. A temporary sign may not be placed within 30 feet of another temporary sign bearing the same or substantially the same message. A temporary sign may not exceed 4 feet by 8 feet in size. A sign under this paragraph must include or be marked with the name and address of the individual, entity or organization that placed the sign within the public right-of-way and the date the sign was erected within the public right-of-way. https://legislature.maine.gov/statutes/23/title23sec1913-A.html