'Like 42nd Street': Wayne mayor is taking a very hard line on unsightly political signs
WAYNE — Pumpkin pie, warm cider and a mishmash of political signs cluttering the right of way.
It is fall once again, and Mayor Christopher Vergano just lost his appetite. He said he handed down explicit orders to the Department of Public Works to start plucking the pesky signs from empty lots, grass medians and other places where they should not be — and that pretty much leaves your front lawn.
"It's totally out of hand," he said.
Some municipalities may overlook candidates' staking campaign signs on government-owned properties, but not this one. "We run a pretty tight ship," the mayor said. They are "ugly," he added, and they "do nothing for the community."
"No voter lives on the island of Route 46," Vergano said. "The corner of Alps Road and Ratzer Road looked like 42nd Street until we had it cleaned up."
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Vergano said he gives the same instructions to the DPW each year, but that this election cycle is worse than he can ever recall.
The Republican mayor said he does not discriminate against either political party, noting that he stopped his car to remove a misplaced sign belonging to a certain GOP candidate.
"I'm like, 'How the hell did this sign get here?' " he said.
The signs collected by the DPW were stored at its garage on Dey Road, Vergano said, and candidates were invited to pick them up from there.
Suzanne Pudup, the president of the Board of Education, is among eight candidates vying for three open seats on the board on Nov. 8. She said she and her two running mates purchased 250 signs to dole out to supporters. She said she knew of the effort to neaten up local streets, but that her team was not affected. "We tried very hard to put signs only where we had permission from homeowners," she said on Friday.
The municipal code sets standards for the placement and size of temporary signs, whether they advertise a property for sale or support a candidate.
Private homeowners are limited to a total of 12 square feet of signs on their front and side yards, and they cannot be lit or mounted to utility poles or trees.
"Any sign that is placed within the public right of way shall be subject to removal by the Township," according to the ordinance, last updated in August 2017.
The township clerk's office distributes copies of the ordinance to candidates, requiring each of them to sign a form acknowledging their understanding of the rules before putting up signs. They have to include their email addresses and phone numbers when they turn it in, and that information is used to contact them if the rules are broken.
Vergano first reported the issue at the most recent meeting of the Township Council, saying at the time that more than four dozen signs were collected. By this week, he said, there were substantially more, and the DPW will continue to remove them until the polls close.
Philip DeVencentis is a local reporter for NorthJersey.com. For unlimited access to the most important news from your local community, please subscribe or activate your digital account today.
Email: devencentis@northjersey.com
This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: NJ mayor orders removal of campaign signs from rights of way
