Our Voice: Time to remove remaining election signs

By mid-November, there are a few things that need to go — dead leaves in the yard, rotting jack-o’-lanterns on the porch and campaign signs everywhere.

Their time is over.

When it comes to political signs, it is up to candidates and campaign leaders to get rid of them — not city crews or citizens.

The election was over a week ago, and it appears most of our candidates who ran for office have done a good job of removing their campaign signs from fences and along public streets and intersections.

A spattering, though, remain throughout the Tri-Cities and, if they have not been taken down by now, we wonder if they have been forgotten. According to state code, campaign signs must be removed within 10 days of the election.

That means Friday.

Most cities in the Mid-Columbia have policies that keep to that timeframe, but Kennewick is stricter. If you have a campaign sign still up in Kennewick, you are past the deadline, which requires election signs be removed within one week of the election.

Even without rules on the books, however, candidates should show good citizenship by removing their political signs as quickly as possible once ballots are counted. It shows you care about the community and how it looks.

Political signs can be an eyesore during the campaign season, but they carry a message and serve a purpose, so we put up with them. After the election, that purpose is finished and political signs are nothing more than a blight on the landscape.

And there is another good reason for taking those political signs down quickly: Many can be used again.

Those who want another crack at running for office likely will want to keep them in storage for a future campaign.

While Mid-Columbia voters decided to return local incumbents to their elected posts, we hope the defeated challengers continue their civic involvement.

We were impressed with the quality of Tri-City area candidates during this election cycle, and we backed several people seeking office for the first time in our political recommendations.

Incumbents traditionally are tough to unseat. They have name recognition, a fundraising base and loyal constituents.

But challengers do us all a favor by forcing those in office to defend their records and remind voters why they should continue in their elected jobs. Incumbents who run unopposed have it too easy.

So, to the challengers, we say thank you for your courage, time and effort in running a political campaign. Our community is better when people get involved in the election process.

And remember to take down any remaining campaign signs and store them for another day. There are many of you we would like to see run for office again.

This story was originally published November 17, 2016 at 4:15 AM with the headline "Our Voice: Time to remove remaining election signs."