Reward offered over thefts of political signs

By NICHOLAS LEDDEN/Daily Inter Lake

Democratic state Senate candidate Mark Holston is offering a $500 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of those responsible for stealing or vandalizing political campaign signs.

"In recent days, vandals have repeatedly gone onto private property and have stolen or destroyed dozens of signs of local Democratic candidates," Holston wrote in a letter to the Inter Lake. "Although the signs of our opponents located on neighboring properties have not been touched, this reward is non-partisan; it will be paid to those who provide information leading to the arrest and conviction of the people destroying such private property regardless of party affiliation."

Holston, who said the reward is personal and not from campaign funds, has personally replaced more than two dozen signs - some of which had been stolen from the same location three times.

Holston is a candidate in Senate District 3, which covers northwest Flathead County and the area between Columbia Falls and Evergreen.

County and municipal law enforcement agencies have received multiple complaints of stolen or missing campaign signs in recent weeks, including - in the last few days alone - on Armory Road outside Whitefish, Sherwood Lane, Northern Lights Boulevard, Clark Drive, and Farm To Market Road.

"The bottom line is that it is theft," Flathead County Sheriff Mike Meehan said. "If we find somebody who's stealing signs, they can be charged with misdemeanor theft. And we will pursue that."

Going onto private property to either remove or erect a political campaign sign is trespassing, another prosecutable offense, Meehan added.

"If we catch somebody, we will prosecute them," he said.

Flathead Democratic Party Chairwoman Joan Vetter Ehrenberg estimated 30 percent of her party's signs in rural areas and 20 percent of those inside communities have been taken down or vandalized.

"It's definitely happening all around the county," she said. "It's a waste. It's a shame. It's dishonest. You respect the political process, but some people don't. It's unfortunate that people are unable to tolerate and respect opposing opinions and it's a trend we've seen in the conservative Republican party of late."

Republican candidates also have had campaign signs go missing.

But Flathead County Republican Vice Chairman Verdell Jackson, a state senator who is not up for election this term, said the number of missing signs is minor compared to the total posted.

"We just know we're going to lose a number of signs and we don't get too upset about it," he said. "Signs have been taken every year, and we've found it's generally kids who're doing it - but not because of who the candidate is."

It is illegal to post political campaign signs on the public right-of-way, and the Montana Department of Transportation accounts for a certain number of lost signs every year.

"I think it's safe for anyone to assume that if they placed a sign in the state right-of-way it was removed by a maintenance worker," Department of Transportation spokeswoman Charity Watt Levis said.

Watt Levis estimated the department has removed between 50 and 100 political campaign signs from right-of-ways - which include utility poles and highway fences - in the Kalispell area. Confiscated signs are kept for the owner to claim, she said.

Sometimes property owners change their minds and remove signs themselves, Jackson noted.

"I don't believe that Republican or Democratic candidates would be inclined to do that," he said. "To automatically come to the conclusion that your opponent is doing it is generally wrong."

Reporter Nicholas Ledden can be reached at 758-4441 or by e-mail at nledden@dailyinterlake.com