With a Primary Election imminent and respective political campaigns reaching a fever pitch, Abington Township Ward 11 Commissioner John Spiegelman posted a reminder to residents and campaign leaders that signs of any kind are not to be bolted to utility poles.

From Commissioner Spiegelman’s Facebook post:

I have received numerous complaints and angry comments—from Ward 11 neighbors and folks all over our Township—about the corrugated plastic campaign signs that have been BOLTED to utility poles all over our community, and it has been extremely time-consuming and incredibly frustrating to try to deal with this situation. For a bunch of reasons—including convoluted legal issues, the fact that all utility poles are the private property of PECO or Verizon, and the simple logistics that Township staff and utility personnel are far too busy to be allocating their time to this nonsense—it’s taking a long time to get this problem addressed. But when you think about it in terms of fairness, should our taxpayer or Verizon bill dollars really be spent cleaning up any political candidate’s visual blight?

The bottom line is this: The bolting of any sign to a utility pole is a code violation—in other words, AGAINST THE LAW—without the explicit permission of the pole’s owner, and PECO and Verizon NEVER give permission for anyone to do this. There have long been issues with candidates of all political parties putting signs in wacky places where they don’t belong. But in all my time in public life and in local politics, I have never seen a candidate bolt signs to utility poles. And that’s likely because NO candidate of any party has EVER shown not only this kind of brazen disregard for the law but also such inferable disdain for our community and our quality of life. Not only does this kind of flagrant and intentional code violation show outstandingly poor judgment, but it’s also the kind of act that might find someone facing the District Judge—that’s the very office for which this candidate is running.

It will take some time before the Township code/property maintenance team, who are currently in the middle of their busiest time of year, will be in a position to deal with this problem. But since that point will be well after the Primary Election is over, I can only—not in my official elected capacity, but, far more personally, as a Township neighbor who deeply loves and strives every day to serve our community—make the following plea to the folks of our Magisterial Judicial District (which is half of Abington Township and all of Rockledge Borough): Whether you’re registered as a Democrat or a Republican, and whether you’re voting by mail-in ballot or in person at the polls this Tuesday, May 16, please do NOT use your precious vote to reward this behavior. It is disqualifying for a candidate for any office, but especially JUDGE.