Sexist politicking and favoritism in Alaska?

...................................................................................................................................................................
Comment: Oh and the signs taken down were all WOMEN candidates. How dare they try to disrupt the good ol boys club and seek office apparently. Remember that when you wallk into the voters booth. .
...................................................................................................................................................................
Sign removal sparks charge of political trickery
By Brian O'Connor, August 10, 2014

Mat-Su voters see so many signs along local roads in an election year, their absence can set off alarm bells.

A Department of Transportation foreman removed several political signs for some candidates near the intersection of Eagle River Access Road and the Old Glenn Highway Monday afternoon, and left behind signs for other candidates, leading to accusations by some local residents that the Alaska Department of Transportation was deliberately choosing sides in contentious races. Transportation officials disputed that notion.

Signs for candidates Cathy Tilton, Lynn Gattis, DeLena Johnson, Patricia Chesbro and Gretchen Wehmhoff were removed, while signs for candidates Ron Saddler, Bill Stoltze and Ron Arvin were left unscathed. A nearby sign advertising for rental opportunities at the Eklutna Plaza was also left unscathed. A real estate agent with the company owning the sign said he believed his sign was on private property while the other signs were in the right-of-way. According to maps on anchoragelive.com, all of the signs were in the right-of-way corridor.

Concerns about obstructed sightlines near the high-traffic intersection led to the removal, said DOT spokes person Jill Reese, though she admitted she couldn’t immediately explain why some signs were left standing while others were trucked off.

“I wish they’d just taken them all,” she said.

Campaign signs crowd the shoulders of local roadways during election season, and in some cases can create a potential hazard for navigation if they appear too close to an intersection. Signage represents a large portion of the typical campaign budget, with smaller signs costing between $50 and $60 and larger signs costing as much as $200 or more, several candidates said.

At least one campaign — House District 12 candidate Tilton — had replaced a sign by Friday.
The signs target voters from the Valley who might shop at the Fred Meyer grocery store located near the intersection, even though Eagle River-Chugiak is located outside many of the contended (and contentious) Valley districts, candidates said.

Regardless of whether or not the sight-line issue was the root cause, volunteers should avoid putting political signs on state rights-of-way, Reese said. Registered candidates are typically notified at the beginning of each campaign season, and some campaigns hew to that advice closely, Reese said. Others don’t circulate the letter as widely, meaning volunteers will sometimes simply match placement of other signs on private property with permission (the preferred method of sign placement) by other campaigns, leading to clusters of signs in high-traffic areas, Reese said.

“Our job is to maintain the right-of-way,” she said. “All of these things are technically illegal signage.”

Karen Perry, a local resident who notified several campaigns of the sign removal, said she suspected the removal was motivated by party politics.

“My big issue is you cannot use state resources to accomplish a political agenda,” she said.

Saddler, Stoltze and Arvin are all establishment Republican candidates, and the sign removal might constitute a campaign trick to weed out Democratic candidates, like Wehmhoff and Chesbro, and less-establishment Republican candidates like Johnson and Tilton, Perry said.

“Saddler, Arvin and Stoltze are all GOP candidates,” she said. “They don’t want people like Tilton or Johnson.”

Perry said DOT officials initially told her they had received complaints about the signs, only to later be told the signs had been removed at the foreman’s discretion. The changing story made her skeptical.

“I don’t care what side of the aisle you’re on,” she said. “If some of the signs come down they all should come down.”

Alaska Statutes prohibit any placement of signs “within 660 feet of the right-of-way,” according the Department of Transportation website. The law contains two exceptions: to advertise ongoing political activities on a nearby property, and for advertising placed on bus stations, bus benches and nearby trash cans.

Accusations of political favoritism on the roadside were unsubstantiated “conspiracy theories,” Reese said. The department is understaffed and unable to keep up with the flood of signs as is, she said.

“The DOT doesn’t have the manpower or the budget to make these giant sweeps of right-of-way,” she said.

The removed signs were on their way back to the campaigns, and the remaining signs at the intersection would be removed, Reese said.

“We are just glad when political season is over,” she said. “It just really seems to bring out the best in people.”
...................................................................................................................................................................