NH Residents Foot Bill For Campaign Trash Cleanup
MANCHESTER, NH (CBS) - Three weeks after New Hampshire's primary there are still political signs lining streets and public spaces.
WBZ asked Manchester residents about the eye-catchers turned eyesores.
"Very irritating," said Ashu Rana.
"Two days after they put them up, I'm annoyed by them. They're disgusting," Amy Gardner exclaimed.
WBZ-TV's Lauren Leamanczyk reports
More than three weeks after the last votes were counted, political signs are everywhere.
"Just the unsightliness. I just picked one up yesterday, stopped my car, put it in the trunk brought it to the dumpster at the high school," said a Bedford resident.
New Hampshire state law is pretty clear. Cleanup is up to the campaigns. So far many are missing the mark.
WBZ went to the campaigns Manchester offices for answers but found locked doors and empty spaces. Some of the campaigns told us over the phone they're working on taking the signs down.
State law says it should have been done by the second Friday after the election. That was January 20th. Now the job falls to cities and towns.
"It's an issue throughout the city. It's time consuming. It takes up our resources," said Manchester Public Works Director Kevin Sheppard. He says taxpayers pick up the tab.
Those taxpayers vote for more enforcement, maybe even fines.
"If the people who put the signs there removed them, I'd be OK with that," said Rana. "The fact that the city has to pay to have them removed, right now in the economy where their trying to raise taxes on everything including local businesses, I find that ridiculous."
The pile of trash at the city drop off point includes signs from every campaign and it proves there's no real punishment for polluting politicians.
