Take Them Down ?
I think people feel like the City should take them down, They need to earn those garage sale permit fees somehow.
Can you believe that you have to PAY someone so that you can SELL your belongings?
Steve_O

To: Mind for McCain
Nobody is faulting Rick Warren for McSame's failings. Mr. POW had the opportunity to listen to Mr. Obama's questions and answers beforehand. He didn't even make it to the event on time. Obviously, he didn't feel it was important enough for him. He was listening on the radio as he was going to the event. I know that Mr. Lush Rimbaugh and inSEANity are giving us only the absolute true facts, but maybe you need to broaden who you trust. Entertainers like them are a poor choice to obtain information.

Take Them Down
I don't think it is the cities job to take them down. People seem to have the time to put them up but then when their sale is over they have better things to do. The garage sale fee is only $5.00 and that is not a lot to ask. I do feel the people who refuse to remove their signs should be fined for littering, the address is on the sign so it should not be that hard to find out where to send the ticket. It is not only garage sale signs that I see how about the handy man signs, and all the other ones you see around town.

I would just like to point out to "Mind for McCain" that one is not required to make a choice between Obama and McCain. ALL the 3rd party candidates were excluded from Warren's forum and will inevitably be excluded (barring miracles) from all debates the rest of the election season. The false choice we are presented between Republicans and Democrats is just that -- a false one. There are no longer any meaningful differences between the 2 major parties, yet the parties who represent truly different ideas and policies are banned from communicating them via the free media that are afforded to the Republicrats! We need to demand free and open debates, which would offer us the real opportunity to become informed voters. I encourage anyone who is interested in truly informed voting to check out former congressman (and former Republican) Bob Barr of the Libertarian Party, Baptist minister Chuck Baldwin of the Constitution Party (in spite of Jerome Corsi's endorsement!), Ralph Nader of the Independent Party, or Cynthia McKinney of the Green Party. Obviously not all of these candidates can or will fit your views, but it's high time that we acknowledge the fact that we do not HAVE to vote for the Republicrats as we are told! As long as we do, friends, there will be no REAL change -- guaranteed.

Steve O, I agree with your assessment that it is beyond ridiculous to have to purchase a permit to sell your own belongings, regardless of how "reasonable" the fee may be.

As far as picking up one's own signage, I do believe that it is (should be) a matter of personal responsibility. It might be tempting for some, as 'younggrandma' says, to unleash the long arm of the law over the litter, but I don't think this would be a great idea logistically. Are you willing to pay for the extra time and enforcement it would require to "solve" the problem this way? Personally, I don't think this should be a high priority of our officials. I would guess that it would actually cost the taxpayers less for the city to clear the signage themselves (although I realize this is not "fair" or ideal, either) than to attempt to go after the litterbugs with citations as suggested. It would be nice if people would pick up after themselves, for sure, but I don't believe the failure to do so warrants punishment.

why wouldn't it warrant punishment chooseliberty? It is littering if they leave it up after the sale. Officers drive around town all the time, it would take very little effort to write down the address of those left up. Then is is passed to someone else. Where does all the expense come from that would be so much more than paying crews to take them down? Good grief, they can't get the grass mowed, how are they going to work in taking down all those signs. It's part of the deal, you put them up, you take them down. The only way to get these irrisponsible people to do what they should is to have consequences. That is a major issue in this town. Consequences are not enforced, only threatened so no one pays any attention to them anymore. You gotta start somewhere. It's not about being high priority, it's about city ordinances being enforced, big and small. If they are too small to enforce then why have them in the first place.

4wildones:

"If they are too small to enforce then why have them in the first place."

My thoughts exactly! Not everything can be solved by laws and law enforcement, and not everything is worth their time and attention.

You are correct that there are officers on patrol all the time. But how would you like those officers to prioritize their patrols? Would you rather they spend their time going after violent criminals or taking signs off of light poles and writing citations? Every minute spent doing these things detracts from their ability to do 'meaningful work.'

"Then is is passed to someone else."

Then a huge influx of minor littering citations are passed to someone else in the department who must deal with whatever paperwork is involved. I think it's fair to say that this, too, would consume a huge amount of time. And this is without considering the matter of enforcement. What happens when someone doesn't pay the citation? Should they go to jail? Do you want to see the courts and jails clogged with more nonviolent offenders? It simply doesn't seem prudent to me to step-up enforcement on this issue. I can't say for sure, but I would guess that if one were to ask the St. Joe PD what the biggest problems are plaguing our town, littering up telephone poles would not be high on the list. I'm sure the violent criminals in town would *love* to have the police distracted with such things!

I approach the 'problem' this way: When I take my signs down, I grab the other old signs that are there. When I go to the park, I grab the trash I see lying around. When I go to Pigeon Hill to exercise my 2nd Amendment rights, I pick up boxes full of other people's shell casings along with my own. Yes, it's annoying that others aren't as conscientious -- but I can lead by example. I can also volunteer with any of various groups around town to clean up the streets and highways.

"The only way to get these irrisponsible [sic] people to do what they should is to have consequences."

That, I fear, is a slippery slope. With that argument, you eventually get to the point of arguing to legislate and enforce remedies to every minor annoyance known to mankind.

There are ways to approach problems without resorting to the force of law. More laws, more ordinances, more enforcement = less freedom for everyone. And less time and ability for the officers to go after those individuals who are committing real crimes.

And I was not suggesting with my above post that the city *should* have to go around and take these signs down -- just that it would be a better, less expensive 'solution' than placing the burden on the police. I honestly don't know how this 'problem' is currently handled, but I think it's fair to say we have more important things to worry about, no?

chooseliberty ::
Great response, great solution. lead by example, a wonderful idea ! More people should do this.