Londonderry News

Local elections are next Tuesday, March 13th; about 2 out of 10 registered voters will come to the polls.  That handful of Londonderry residents will vote on more than One Hundred Million Dollars of your tax money.  One reminder of this election is the signs you see popping up all over town – at least before the nor’easter hit this week.

Last week, word traveled through the town like northeast winds off the ocean, getting to some candidates faster than others, and some it would appear not at all. The issue? Does your sign identify who paid for the sign?  It is the law, at least it has been for as long as I can remember.  Ten years ago not many of us bothered. Sure it had to be on collateral for national elections, but local? It made little sense.

Before the Great Sign Kerfuffle, you could see the signs had different markings.  Now I am not talking about the “Vote for Me” in big fonts, or the full color designs used to draw your attention.  Some signs, like mine, had “Paid for by” followed by the candidate name, or committee name.  Some had no “Paid for by” at all.  The attorney in the race had, as required by what appears to be a little known law, a full name and address.  A few running had no information on the signs, except a union bug showing that the sign was printed in a union shop.

Somehow, someone contacted the New Hampshire Attorney General to report “illegal signs” in Londonderry.  The moderators were alerted and raced to inspect the signs.  Sure enough many, including myself, did not follow the letter of the law.  Over the following weekend, candidates were contacted.  It appears to have started on Friday; I got word on Sunday.  Communications with the School Board moderator – different from the Town moderator – indicated it was something we did not really have to do.

Knowing how kerfuffles go, I agreed but thought, “This is going to continue to bubble and brew unless the law is followed.” So while my signs had “Paid for by Steve Young” on them, I needed to come up with a sticker.  At this point, many were putting second stickers on the signs – the first ones made out of paper having come off in the rain.  I thought, “What can I say that is within the law but illustrates how silly this is?”

I got it, and created my waterproof stickers.  Running through town after and before work Sunday and Monday, I placed them on with a grin the Grinch would be proud of.  They now said, “Paid for by Steve Young, I live at 7 Fiddlers Ridge Road, Londonderry NH 03053 – But you knew that!”

Now the threats of a thousand dollar fine and thoughts of prison were cleared from my mind.  I heard the sign police did inspect my sign, so I know I am safe.  From what I understand, one or more signs still have nothing on them at all.  I do hope nothing happens to these scofflaws, and they get a chance to vote next Tuesday.

Not a single person running in the election next week is a politician, and we shouldn’t be.  We are citizen volunteers that are required to run for office.  For the state or anyone to be worried about finding who paid for our signs is just ridiculous.  Of course that is why they call it “Silly Season” here in New England.

Steve Young

Steve is running for School Board Tuesday after serving three years on the Budget Committee and fifteen years on the School Board.