Fannon campaign signs get mysterious heave-ho

MAT-SU -- The race for Mat-Su Borough mayor is heating up, but it has nothing to do with candidates' political positions.

Link Fannon, campaign manager for his father, Charlie, said nine campaign signs worth a total of $1,000 have been cut down throughout the Valley in the past two weeks. The 4-foot by 8-foot, double-sided signs have been toppled from Palmer to Talkeetna, he said.

After being cut down, one sign was fastened to a state speed limit sign near Talkeetna, Fannon added.

"It's frustrating," he said. "Name recognition is a big goal for us. You put these in places where you can't watch them all the time."

The signs are secured to heavy supports by 2-inch by 2-inch wood stakes with a 3-inch screw. In each case, the support was snapped in two and the sign was left on the ground. Fannon said most of the damage has occurred in District 6.

He doesn't believe it's being done by an opponent's organized campaign.

"They would have too much to lose" if caught, Fannon said.

At first, he just thought the wind was blowing them down. Then he noticed that none of the other candidates' signs had succumbed to wind.

Charlie Fannon is running against incumbent Tim Anderson. Fannon is employed by the Wasilla Police Department as project coordinator for a new regional emergency communications system.

"My dad hasn't been involved in any controversial issues," Link Fannon said Tuesday. "I haven't run into anyone who hates my dad."

He's stumped by the situation, but says it may boil down to one person who wants to exercise his First Amendment right of free speech while denying it to others. It's ironic that such behavior would be part of an election, he said.

Fannon also rejects the idea that kids are responsible, partly because only Charlie Fannon signs have been targeted.

"You don't pick one person's sign and do it over and over," he said of a possible youthful prank.

Meanwhile, someone has been calling the Alaska Public Offices Commission in Anchorage with allegations that Fannon signs do not include the required disclaimer saying who paid for them.

Christina Ellingson, APOC assistant director, said the first call came in late July from someone complaining about a reader board message supporting Fannon. The board was erected by a private citizen with no connection to the Fannon campaign, and it has been corrected, she said.

The other call on Aug. 5 was from someone who said the large blue wood signs -- the ones being destroyed -- do not contain the disclaimer. Further inspection showed that the information was printed on the signs, although faintly, Ellingson said.