Sign of elections to come
Not all Yorba Lindans vote in municipal elections—the spirited 2006 contest inspired about 57 percent of registered voters to cast ballots—but everyone participates at least vicariously by watching candidates contend for the best sign-posting positions in the city.
The premier location—the pot of gold at the end of a campaigner’s rainbow—is the vacant parcel on the northeast corner of the busy Yorba Linda Boulevard and Imperial Highway intersection, referred to as the “poppy field” during Spring blooming season.
This city-owned land, formerly occupied by a drive-in A & W Root Beer stand and later a mortuary, is the key component for most of the Town Center redevelopment proposals offered during the past decade.
But right now—and for the foreseeable future—the land appears well-suited to introduce potential voters to candidates seeking City Council, water board and school trustee seats.
Last week council members backed off an ordinance drafted by City Attorney Sonia Carvalho that would prohibit political and business signs on city-owned property but allow them on public rights-of-way with certain restrictions.
Carvalho’s plan was to eliminate inconsistencies in the city code dealing with temporary signs. The disparities led to candidates receiving different rulings from various city staff regarding the proper placement of political signs in 2006.
But most council members thought Carvalho’s proposals too broad and asked her to return with a plan to only eliminate the current code’s conflicts.
Some residents have long complained about the rickety postings at the high-visibility Town Center corner, and the few hand-painted, billboard-sized attack signs put up in 2006 and 2007 drew heavier criticism.
But others enjoy the biennial spectacle and see signs as “free speech” and “democracy in action.” Community activist Ed Rakochy, a 2004 council contender, calls the prized site “kooky corner.”
Sadly, too many candidates place too much emphasis on the signs they scatter around town, as if the number and placement of postings will win more votes than some well-researched positions on issues that matter to voters.
During each election cycle the contenders and a few supporters get caught up in accusing opponents of stealing and defacing signs and charging rivals with violating the confusing codes regulating temporary signs.
However, the council shouldn’t support the drastic solution adopted by some neighboring cities, such as Placentia, and ban temporary signs from public property. Yorba Linda has a rich heritage of hard-fought politics and election signs embody a bit of country charm.
A FINAL NOTE
Assemblyman Mike Duvall’s most unpopular decision as Yorba Linda mayor in 2006 was to unilaterally lower the time residents could address the council to three minutes.
His successor as mayor, Allen Castellano, rightly returned the limit to five minutes, but, due to a legal interpretation, the public’s podium time remained the mayor’s prerogative.
However, at John Anderson’s suggestion, the governing body last week gave first reading to an ordinance that would require a three-vote majority for future speaking time changes.
The premier location—the pot of gold at the end of a campaigner’s rainbow—is the vacant parcel on the northeast corner of the busy Yorba Linda Boulevard and Imperial Highway intersection, referred to as the “poppy field” during Spring blooming season.
This city-owned land, formerly occupied by a drive-in A & W Root Beer stand and later a mortuary, is the key component for most of the Town Center redevelopment proposals offered during the past decade.
But right now—and for the foreseeable future—the land appears well-suited to introduce potential voters to candidates seeking City Council, water board and school trustee seats.
Last week council members backed off an ordinance drafted by City Attorney Sonia Carvalho that would prohibit political and business signs on city-owned property but allow them on public rights-of-way with certain restrictions.
Carvalho’s plan was to eliminate inconsistencies in the city code dealing with temporary signs. The disparities led to candidates receiving different rulings from various city staff regarding the proper placement of political signs in 2006.
But most council members thought Carvalho’s proposals too broad and asked her to return with a plan to only eliminate the current code’s conflicts.
Some residents have long complained about the rickety postings at the high-visibility Town Center corner, and the few hand-painted, billboard-sized attack signs put up in 2006 and 2007 drew heavier criticism.
But others enjoy the biennial spectacle and see signs as “free speech” and “democracy in action.” Community activist Ed Rakochy, a 2004 council contender, calls the prized site “kooky corner.”
Sadly, too many candidates place too much emphasis on the signs they scatter around town, as if the number and placement of postings will win more votes than some well-researched positions on issues that matter to voters.
During each election cycle the contenders and a few supporters get caught up in accusing opponents of stealing and defacing signs and charging rivals with violating the confusing codes regulating temporary signs.
However, the council shouldn’t support the drastic solution adopted by some neighboring cities, such as Placentia, and ban temporary signs from public property. Yorba Linda has a rich heritage of hard-fought politics and election signs embody a bit of country charm.
A FINAL NOTE
Assemblyman Mike Duvall’s most unpopular decision as Yorba Linda mayor in 2006 was to unilaterally lower the time residents could address the council to three minutes.
His successor as mayor, Allen Castellano, rightly returned the limit to five minutes, but, due to a legal interpretation, the public’s podium time remained the mayor’s prerogative.
However, at John Anderson’s suggestion, the governing body last week gave first reading to an ordinance that would require a three-vote majority for future speaking time changes.
posted by Jim Drummond at 12:00 PM
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