Let us start by saying we hate all political yard signs. We hate the back and forth accusations by political parties blaming the opposition for stealing them. And we hate the fact that they are often still there six months after the election process although most of the candidates do a good job of cleaning up their own signs.

But two things happened this week that showed how much worse the problem could be and will probably become.

We spent a few days recently in Austin, Texas. The small signs which are prevalent in Western Pennsylvania are dwarfed by the typical road-side sign in Texas. They say everything is bigger in Texas, and maybe with the 85 mile per hour speed limits the signs have to be bigger to give you a chance to read them as you fly by. But their standard comparable road signs are 5 feet by 8 feet. Most of the ones used locally are 18 inches by 24 inches. You will occasionally see a 4 foot by 8 foot sign outside the city limits here.

An article in the Erie Times stated that the Republican party has put up 7,000 Trump signs and the Democratic party has issued 15,000 Biden signs already. That’s a lot of roadside litter.

But Oil City has a much worse problem. A resident there has erected an extremely vulgar anti-Trump sign on a private lot which he owns. It is one of the small 18-by-24-inch signs but large enough to show a disgusting message. Oil City had forced him to remove it due to complaints, but now lawyers have gotten involved and they agreed to leave it up for two weeks while the courts look at the issue.

It may be within the owners legal rights under the First Amendment, but it also is classless, ridiculous and the worst example of a good neighbor. Isn’t this a great message for kids to see while walking down the street?

Local communities need to look at all their current policies and ordinances which apply to these issues. Policies need to be fair as well as legal, but they need to be brought up to date and they need to be enforced.

Most of the time we shrug-away small-minded posters and signs hung on buildings as silly attempts to let people know how little class the property owners have, but when you start embarrassing the community and causing parents to have to reroute the path kids can walk, something needs done.

This isn’t a complaint against either party, but instead a warning of what could come if we don’t enact and enforce decency codes that apply to such signs. Common sense obviously isn’t enough.

And to those persons placing signs on public right-of way: Please be careful not to obstruct vision and please remove them promptly after the election. Please, don’t forget to vote.

— RV