Mayoral candidates hoping sign thefts will stop

CADILLAC — For both Gordon Baas and Bill Barnett, the past two weeks have been frustrating.

The Cadillac mayoral candidates and their campaign crews have been spending countless hours going door-to-door talking with voters, handing out campaign literature and putting signs in yards.

What is really disappointing to the candidates is that recently, their signs have been coming up missing.

“We have been losing 10 to 20 a night and in the morning, people call us to replace them. It is difficult to keep up with the phone calls,” said Denise Barnett, campaign manager and organizer for her husband Bill Barnett. “Saturday I went out for two hours replacing signs or signs and wires — we had so many missing. It is so frustrating.”

Baas has the same sentiments.

“I just got off the phone with a citizen who had put four signs out on Sunday afternoon. They were taken by Monday morning,” he said. “I am getting other calls from some citizens regularly telling me their signs are gone. I have done some replacements, but it is time consuming.”

Not only is it time consuming to replace signs, but it can be expensive, too. Baas said another problem is that he doesn’t know everyone who is missing a sign.

“I don’t know if the person chose to take out the sign or if someone else had taken it out of the yard,” he said. “The only way you can truly know is if you get a call.”

Although some may think taking signs out of a yard is a joke, Wexford Prosecuting Attorney Mark Smathers said it is anything but a joke. Because campaign signs belong to people and have some value, theft or vandalism of a sign could be prosecuted under the larceny or malicious destruction of personal property laws.

“In some case there could be a trespass charge but that seems less likely,” he said. “The difficulty is with the protection of a sign that, by its nature, is placed near the street or sidewalk 24 hours a day.”

Cadillac Police Department Director of Public Safety Jeff Hawke said it is nothing new for political signs to be stolen.

“It has happened over the years in past elections to varying degrees, although not in every election,” he said. “Basically what it looks like is some kids in malicious mischief. We were fortunate to have some recovered for both candidates.”

Both Baas and Barnett said they just hope it will stop.

“When it was just a few signs, it wasn’t a big deal,” Denise Barnett said. “But now it is to the point where it is just ridiculous. It is a lot of work, and we just hope it stops.”

Residents who have had signs stolen can call the candidates to have the sign replaced. Baas can be reached at 775-7173 and Barnett at 775-9531.

Hawke said if anyone sees any activity involving political signs that looks unauthorized, they should call 911 immediately.

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Sign thefts

There are some other freedoms and restrictions associated with campaign signs, according to Wexford County Prosecuting Attorney Mark Smathers. Campaign signs are political speech and as such receive a high degree of protection under the First Amendment. There have various Michigan court cases and Attorney General opinions over the years that discuss campaign signs. Some brief summaries are shown below: