St. Louis Post-Disparch Candidate Previews

The St. Louis Post-Dispatch has its online candidate guide posted for Madison County. Scan down and find the Troy municipal races and you can click on my candidate profile.

Only a week until Election Day!

Candidate Review: Collinsville Herald

The candidate reviews for Troy's municipal races has hit the news stands!

From the Collinsville Herald-Journal:

Allen Adomite, 29, is also running for alderman of Ward 3. He said he gained valuable experience as a legislative staff member for the Illinois General Assembly for four years.

"Communication is the key to making sure the job is done right the first time," Adomite said, "which is why I'm proposing the appointment of citizen advisors onto the Public Works Committee."

Adomite said advisors would create better dialogue between the city, its contractors and neighbors during street construction.

Throughout the campaign, Adomite has visited with numerous residents and has valued what he has learned through speaking with people.

"My commitment to meet with residents on their doorstep will not stop after Election Day," he said. "The citizens in Ward 3 have always valued the accessibility of their aldermen, and I plan to continue that tradition."

(An additional note: I'd like to quickly thank the 500+ people I've already had the opportunity to speak with on doorsteps in our Ward. I feel like representing you on the Council is much more than attending meetings, it's working to meet you at your home to talk about the things that affect your neighborhood and family. Hope to see many more of you for a first, second, or maybe even third visit by April 5th!)

More Signs: Taylor Lake Subdivision

I can quickly answer the question as to whether or not Troy has a sign ordinance prohibiting political signs from the City-owned right-of-ways: Troy doesn't.

However, the ordinance doesn't seem to be enforceable in Glen Carbon, given the rash of signs that have continue to litter the public's land along the thoroughfares in our neighboring town.

Which begs a bigger political question...

Who should enforce sign ordinances? It's a political lose-lose for any incumbents running. If the city were to enforce the ordinance, the Mayor of the town would be on the chopping block for being "too political" with the office during an Election year.

After hearing from supportive homeowners in Taylor Lake subdivision that the subdivision has an ordinance (more likely, a "covenant") that prohibits posting of signs in the subdivision, I'm going to refrain from putting my signs up IN the subdivision. I've asked the property owner across the street for permission to put a sign in the field across from the entrances, and he has graciously allowed me the space. Thanks to Scott Howard (the Taylor Lake Neighborhood Association President) for clarifying the rules so we can follow them.

I guess that answers my first question...

The candidates should police themselves when working to observe sign ordinances and restrictions. The public notices when signs are placed without permission. It goes to show, if a candidate can't follow the rules DURING the election...well, I'll leave the rest up to your imagination.

Yard Sign Debate

In the past week, I've seen much debate in the newspapers about problems with yard signs over in Glen Carbon. Specifically, the debate is centered around the placing of yard signs in the "right-of-ways," which is the area that is often between the sidewalk and the road, or perhaps around a major street or stop sign.

The Belleville News-Democrat reports: "Glen Carbon, like most communities, has an ordinance that prohibits private signs being placed in public rights of way. But usually those rules aren't enforced at election time."

I thought I'd weigh in on the issue by letting the people of Troy know that, as a voter, I generally dislike the placing of signs in right-of-ways. Many times, signs can disrupt the view of traffic in and around intersections, making the use of right-of-ways for this purpose potentially unsafe.

Plus, I strongly feel that you should get PERMISSION from a property owner for putting a sign on their property. This means, for right-of-ways, you would need to get permission from the city or the state. Obviously, this isn't feasible or fair, so the practice of signs in the right-of-way should be discouraged.

I enjoyed the News-Democrat's editorial take: "We hope that other communities in the metro-east will follow Glen Carbon's lead and enforce their sign ordinances. Doing so isn't taking away the right of political speech. Candidates and their supporters can still put up all the signs they please on private property with the owners' permission.

However, it shouldn't take the threat of enforcement action to convince candidates to remove signs from rights of way. If private businesses can't set up their signs, candidates shouldn't, either. Candidates might actually gain some votes if they showed they believe the rules apply to them, also."

I wholeheartedly agree. While I'm unsure if Troy has a right-of-way ordinance (I'm going to check this week and report back), I wanted everyone to know that I'm working very hard to make sure my signs avoid the right-of-ways, and are only placed in people's yards. I have strived to seek out the permission of property owners for 100% of my sign locations. If you feel one of my signs has crossed into a right-of-way boundary, or has been improperly placed by myself or one of my volunteers, please e-mail me to have the issue quickly resolved.

Candidates ask the community to bear a great amount by having "political speech" color the city's landscape for the month before an election. Thank you for that opportunity.