Analysis
Political flap a sign of the times



GUILDERLAND — School buses whisk children away, the air becomes cool and crisp, weekends are filled with apple-picking and final camping trips — and politicians squabble over political signs.

Fall has officially begun.

The perennial election-time fight has once again returned to the local political scene. In the weeks building up to Tuesday’s primary, political signs began appearing on every major intersection, town park, and residential lawn.

This year’s target was Supervisor Kenneth Runion, who is running unopposed in the Nov. 6 election. Signs for Runion were posted with those for fellow Democrats, Councilman David Bosworth and Councilman Michael Ricard. Also posted were signs that included all three incumbents, who say they are running as a team.

However, as pointed out by some town residents, Runion was not in Tuesday’s primary.

Town law allows election signs to be posted 21 days prior to an election, so election signs for primary candidates could be legally posted, while signs for candidates only in the Nov. 6 election could not.

The Enterprise has received some calls about the sign issue as well as a letter to the editor this week. (See letters to the editor.) The town’s current Republican chair, Barbara Davis, who dropped out of a race for town board, also sent an e-mail to the town’s zoning department, citing a violation.

In an e-mail to the town’s chief building inspector and zoning administrator, Donald Cropsey, Davis asks about the signs.
"Dear Don: Guilderland Town Supervisor Ken Runion has political lawn signs up even though Guilderland Town Law only allows political signs to be posted 21 days prior to an election. As you know, Mr. Runion does not appear on the ballot until Nov. 6," Davis wrote. "Please tell me when we can expect the signs to be removed."

The e-mail was dated Wednesday, Sept. 5.
According to town code, "Signs shall be erected not more than 21 days before the election and shall be removed within four days after the election."

Runion told The Enterprise two weeks ago that a state Supreme Court decision handed down against Guilderland Democrats several years ago cited freedom of speech in regards to political signs, and "overruled town codes."
When Republican challengers put up signs that read, "Guilderland + Republicans = Good Government," Democrats sued, but eventually lost in court.
"Any candidate is allowed to write anything they want or any slogan they want on a political sign as long as it’s not offensive," Runion said when asked. The supervisor said that his running mates are able to use his name on the campaign trail as well.
However, in the meantime, the individual "Supervisor Runion" signs have disappeared and no one is quite sure where they went. Runion said he didn’t know what happened to them.

When asked at the time, Cropsey said no political signs had been removed by the town’s zoning enforcement officers and he was not aware of any violations in town. All signs taken for code violations are brought behind Town Hall on Western Turnpike and piled up next to a dirt driveway.

No political signs could be found in the pile on Tuesday.