Batavia Mayor Furious About Campaign Signs In Marsh Preserve
BATAVIA, Ill. (CBS) -- Stories about political signs that get people upset are nothing unusual, especially in an election year.
But in this case, it's where the signs were placed that has people upset, not the message.
As WBBM Newsradio's Bob Roberts reports, Batavia Mayor Jeff Schielke first became upset when he spotted a sign in the middle of the Braeburn Marsh preserve while turning from Randall Road east onto Fabyan Parkway on Sunday.
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Schielke said someone else removed the sign before he could contact Kane County Forest Preserve officials to ask them to do so.
But then more signs appeared.
"Subsequent from that I found out that a candidate from another party had gone down Randall Road and posted signs on the public right of way all the way from Fabyan Parkway to Main Street in Batavia advertising his candidacy," Schielke said.
This time, Schielke had city workers remove the signs that were on public right-of-way.
Schielke said he has no problem with home and business owners that want to show their support for candidates, so long as the signs remain on their property and not an environmentally-sensitive area such as Braeburn Woods, which was the site of a protracted battle with commercial developers before being protected as a bird sanctuary.
He said he hopes it's a warning to candidates, no matter what the party.
Some communities have ordinances requiring candidates to remove political signage within a certain number of days after an election, but Schielke said he doesn't want to micro-manage. What he said he wants to see is voluntary compliance.
