Political season starts with sign vandalism

WASILLA — This election season’s first major rash of political sign vandalism appears to have been non-partisan.

“I don’t think it was personal,” said Florence Scott, whose signs were among those torn down. Scott is hoping to unseat state Rep. Carl Gatto in the race for Palmer’s House of Representatives District 13.

“It’s almost like picturesque though,” she said of the destruction at Trunk Road and Palmer-Wasilla Highway.

Scott first noticed the vandalism sometime Tuesday. On Wednesday, the signs’ frames were still along the road, some knocked over into the weeds, others still standing with their signs removed, void of political messages.

Scott said her plastic sign was ripped from its frame, leaving behind small plastic triangles screwed to the wood. Those signs are made from tough plastic, she said, and aren’t easy to rip.

“Somebody was really intent on it,” Scott said.

Campaign signs are a somewhat ubiquitous indication that election season has rolled around. And sign vandalism isn’t something new to the Mat-Su Valley. Still, the scene is in marked contrast to 2006 when allegations flew between supporters of Mark Neuman and Myrl Thompson over alleged politically motivated sign-stealing and destruction.

At Four Corners — as the intersection is known — Linda Menard’s signs were taken down as were a number of signs supporting other candidates, Scott said. Menard, a Republican, is running for state Senate.

Even signs with messages about ballot measures rather than candidates were not spared. Outside the now-defunct Mom & Pop convenience store, a homemade plywood number with a fish painted on it — named “Renewable Red,” according to the sign — urging folks to vote “yes” on ballot measure 4, was overturned.

As of Thursday afternoon, none of the signs were back up, although Scott had a much smaller blue sign driven into the dirt next to Trunk Road.

Scott said she’s not exactly sure who is to blame for the political vandalism.

“It could be kids protesting going back to school. It could be somebody that was just angry at something, just went off,” she said.