The very first night I put an election campaign sign on my lawn, some lame-brained Neanderthal had the audacity to treat it like a football.
I found it the next morning broken and on the street about 100 feet away from my house.
I stared accusingly at everyone who was watching me as I retrieved the sign (it was for my niece who is running for the school board in Nanaimo) on the off chance that one of them was the sign basher.
I knew my niece, a single mom who certainly isn’t a rich person, spent a lot of her own hard-earned money to purchase signs that she then took a lot of time and energy placing all over the community.
After all the work she put into it, I was very annoyed that someone would treat one of her signs with such disrespect.
I see the same type of vandalism of election signs all over the Island, with some of the larger ones actually smashed to smithereens as cowardly dimwits take out their own frustrations and lack of respect for their communities and those who are willing to work for others on the helpless election signs.
Some of these morons have even taken the time to mutilate the faces of many of the candidates who have their pictures on the signs.
Once again, I have to ask myself why people want to get involved in any local politics at all.
The hours are long, the pay is usually pretty pathetic and the respect you get for all your hard work is evident in the way election signs are treated.
In my experience, the vast majority of local politicians are, like my niece, people who just want to do all they can for the communities they live in and are more than happy to lend their talents to that cause.
They are generally positive people who are trying to make the world a better place for their families and neighbours.
I’ve spent much of my career dealing with municipal council members, directors of regional districts and school board trustees and I’ve always been astounded by how gracious and accommodating most are with their time and abilities.
Being a somewhat cynical person, as many reporters are, I used to always look for the “angle” of local politicians; some ulterior motive for what really drives them.
Of course there are always some who just want to be elected to advance their own interests, whether it be for political gain or to safeguard business interests they have in the community, but, as I’ve said, I’ve discovered that most just want what they perceive as best for their constituents.
They deserve respect for their efforts, and I encourage the voting public to take a few minutes tomorrow to head to a voting booth and add their voices to the selection of who they want to represent them on the local level for the next four years.
I’ve always told people that they have no right to complain about local politics if they didn’t bother to vote to choose those deciding the issues.
These people have put a lot of effort into their campaigns; the least the rest of us can do is cast a ballot.
It’s a far better use of your time than smashing down campaign signs.
