NEW SCOTLAND – Littering the local landscape with campaign signs during election season is a "time-tested phenomenon," says L. Michael Mackey, New Scotland’s Democratic Party chairman.

The campaign signs of New Scotland Democratic candidates prompted Douglas LaGrange, a Republican running for supervisor, to write a letter to The Enterprise editor this week. LaGrange said he was frustrated by the "deception" of the Democrats — citing their lawn signs that use unearned titles and party lines.
In his letter, LaGrange refers to Mackey as "seemingly the Rove-type architect of his party’s slate and campaign in our upcoming election."
As the Democratic chairman, Mackey said it is his responsibility to oversee and manage the campaign. His personal philosophy as to how campaigns should be run, he said, is that "both sides should stay above the temptation to personally attack the opponent."
Both sides should engage in "rational discussions" regarding the qualifications of the candidates and the issues concerning the town, Mackey told The Enterprise.
"I believe Rove’s signature would be to personally attack or Swift Boat his political opposition. I’ve never done that, and I never would do that," Mackey said. He added that if it becomes a requirement of his position, he will resign.

Deceptive signs"

The signs for the Democratic candidates were ordered from the same company, and printed using the same template, said Brendan O’Shea, who is running for town justice.
O’Shea’s campaign signs had read "Elect Judge Brendan O’Shea," though he is not currently a judge. The Republican candidates for judge, John Keenan and incumbent Margaret Adkins, each called O’Shea to inform him that his signs were misleading.
"They could not have been nicer," O’Shea said of Adkins and Keenan.
"Mr. O’Shea immediately went out and covered it up," Adkins told The Enterprise. O’Shea took all of his signs and painted over the word "judge" before replacing them, he said.
Similarly, LaGrange points out that signs for his opponent in the race for town supervisor, Democrat Thomas Dolin, read, "Elect Supervisor Tom Dolin."
LaGrange says that this is "unethical" and "misleading to the public."
"He’s not claiming to be the supervisor, it’s just the style of the sign," Mackey said of Dolin’s signs. "He’s not deceiving anyone."

When The Enterprise spoke to Dolin this week regarding his signs, he said it was the first he had heard of any complaints. "If it needs some clarification, I’ll do it," Dolin said.
"I’ll take full responsibility for the way they’re presented," Dolin said. "I’m trying to address the issues, not fool the people," he said.
Dolin said that he is a "strong advocate of avoiding sign pollution" and has tried to be sensitive to the public.

The village of Voorheesville has a sign law that stipulates that campaign signs cannot be put up more than 30 days prior to a primary or general election, Dolin said. The town does not have a law, but, the Democratic and Republican parties have reached an understanding to try to be sensitive to the public and not place signs in town more than 30 days before an election, he said.

The Democrats planned to take their signs down on Wednesday, following the primary election, and would put them back up on Oct. 8 — 30 days before the November general election, said Dolin.
"Before we put them up again, I will take these comments into consideration," Dolin said. "I’ll try to be objective and, if it needs correcting, I’ll do it," he said.
Signs for Democrat Deborah Baron, who is seeking re-election to the town board, read "Democrat, Independence, and Conservative" though the signs were put up before Tuesday’s Conservative Party primary election, LaGrange said.
"Let’s keep it on a level playing field," LaGrange told The Enterprise.

Baron was designated by the Conservative Party, is running with their support, and included it on her sign, Mackey said.
"I was interviewed and given the endorsement of the Conservative Party," Baron told The Enterprise this week. Republican candidate Chuck Voss, and Conservative Gary Shultz, who is running on the Republican line, were later endorsed by the Conservatives as well.

Therefore, on Tuesday’s Conservative Party ballot, three names — Baron, Voss, and Schultz — appeared, along with one opportunity to ballot for Democrat Richard Reilly, as candidates for town board. There are only two open seats, so only two candidates will get the Conservative line in November’s election.

Unofficial results reported on by Dolin from the board of election counts on Wednesday afternoon showed Baron securing the Conservative line with 46 votes.
Baron said that she did what she thought was OK, and was told by an attorney that it wasn’t a problem to include "Conservative" on her signs. If she had thought it was going to be problematic, she said, "I would have covered it up."

Other concerns
"Two years ago, a factually flawed letter was mailed, by the Democrat slate, to a large segment of town," said LaGrange in his letter to the editor.

The letter LaGrange is referring to was dated Nov. 2, 2005 — the day after a unanimous planning-board decision to not rezone the area where a large development was proposed. LaGrange was, at the time, a member of the planning board running for a seat on the town board.

The town had been presented with a petition signed by 170 residents who thought the area should be two-acre zoning.

The letter was signed by the three Democratic candidates and mailed the week prior to the general election. The candidates promised that, if elected, they would scale back the proposed density for the development.
"We, again, find ourselves before another election and here they go again only sooner," LaGrange says in his letter, referring to the Democrats’ campaign signs.
Every fall, the signs come out on both sides, Mackey said, indicating his uncertainty on the effectiveness of the signs in the outcome of the campaign. "We’re all blessed with having these signs up," he added.

A study conducted by Barometrics Research on the effectiveness of campaigning tactics in Ontario, Canada found that each lawn sign in a poll added .68 percent to the party’s vote in the poll. The study compared results from Canada’s federal election in 2000 to results from the 2004 election.
"I think it’s tempting in the heat of an election, to sometimes make mountains out of molehills," Mackey said.
"I really think it’s important that all of the candidates on both sides really try to keep their focus on discussing their qualifications and focus on issues," said Mackey. The public doesn’t want to hear about personal attacks, he said, "It’s unnecessary."