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A sign of the times

By David Scharfenberg Daily Planet Staff
Tuesday October 29, 2002

It’s almost Halloween and something spooky is happening in Berkeley. With Election Day just a week away, dozens of campaign signs for candidates across the political spectrum have disappeared. 

Who is the ghoul behind the mysterious trend? It appears to be a monster all too familiar to Berkeley residents: partisan politics.  

Board of Education candidate Lance Montauk, who estimates that 200 of his roughly 800 signs have ended up in trash bins or in tatters on the ground, had a run-in with the beast last week. 

Montauk said he was replacing a series of torn-down signs on Cedar Street Wednesday morning when a middle-aged man and his school-aged daughter pulled up in a car. 

“He yelled out, ‘no point in putting them up again, I’ll just tear them down’” and pulled away, said Montauk. 

Montauk, who has taken controversial stands on school district finances and special education, got the heckler’s license plate number but said he does not plan to file charges. 

“This must be life and this must be politics,” said the first-time candidate. “My wife is more upset than I am.” 

Board of Education President Shirley Issel, who is running for re-election, said she has faced a different kind of problem – a vandal who has scrawled the word ‘no’ on her signs. 

“We were out until two in the morning last night cleaning off signs,” she said. 

Issel joked that the graffitti might be a sign that she’s doing something right. 

“I don’t know if I should be flattered or furious,” she said. 

Bryan Schwartz, campaign manager for Mayor Shirley Dean, said he has received “dozens of reports” of lawn signs stolen from supporters’ yards. He said the mayor’s husband, Dan, has worked tirelessly to replace the posters and estimates that the campaign has more than 900 signs up in Berkeley. 

“We still feel good about our sign presence,” Schwartz said. 

Alisha Rivani, campaign manager for Dean’s chief rival Tom Bates, estimated that 50 to 100 Bates signs have been taken, but seemed unfazed. 

“I think it happens in every election,” said Rivani, adding that the campaign has put up close to 2,000 signs around the city. 

Planning commissioner Gordon Wozniak, one of four candidates in the hotly-contested race for the 8th District City Council seat, said someone systematically removed 50 to 100 of his signs from about 10 streets in southeast Berkeley Saturday night or Sunday morning. 

“In fact, they took one from my house,” he said. 

Wozniak said the 8th District race has been clean and added that he does not believe that any of his rivals were directly involved. But, he called the mass removal of posters a “bad play” and said it was designed to intimidate his supporters. 

Wozniak said his campaign is working to replace the missing signs, which cost $4 each. 

One of Wozniak’s competitors, Carlos Estrada, said that about 60 of his signs have come down. Estrada, an air conditioning mechanic and member of the Green Party, said he takes the matter seriously. 

“We have to stand up for fair campaign practices,” he said. “It’s about the democratic process.” 

 

Contact reporter at scharfenberg 

@berkeleydailyplanet.net