The in basket: Herron Miller, the Sun’s night new editor, emailed July 2 to say, “Saw something on way into work this afternoon you might ask about.
“I was coming off southbound Highway 3 to turn left onto Kitsap Way. A DOT truck was parked at corner of the exit ramp and Kitsap Way. A worker was putting several yard signs into the truck. One that I could see was a political yard sign. Not sure where he pulled them from, but they were ending up in the back of his truck.
“Just wondering what are the rules on yard signs? They seem to litter the sides of roads everywhere … why would the ones he was taking be targeted?
The out basket: Duke Stryker, supervisor of state highway maintenance crews here, says his employees rarely make a special trip to deal with such signs, but will remove them if they are on other business, such as litter removal. The signs will get more directed attention if they obstruct driver vision.
It’s not legal to put them on state highway right of way, and that includes political signs, he said. He thinks candidates get a flyer from election offices telling them that.
His office hangs on to removed signs for a while, in case the candidate or business wants to reclaim them.
And he denied a common accusation, that his crews target one party or another or one side of an issue.
Good to know, now I can start picking up the political litter. Do they get fined for littering?