A friend recently stopped by Village Hall, and something caught their eye in the discarded election signs stacked for recycling at the “public works” barn. Upon closer inspection, they discovered three hundred (300) new, sealed and uncirculated Hoffman Estates election campaign signs left for recycling (seen in the image above).
Now, Barrington Hills does promote recycling at our facility, so there’s no problem with that. And, we actually published a piece six years ago on the overabundance of election signs blighting our roads (see “Too many sign”), but we weren’t advocating wasting donors hard earned money just to please us, so we had to learn more.
The Hoffman Estates unofficial election results show the second-place presidential candidate lost by roughly 900 votes, but the trustee elections were much closer for one candidate named in the heap at our Village ‘pubic works” barn.
She lost by just 28 votes, and according to the Daily Herald, the incumbent trustee who narrowly defeated her, “…said he picked up all 77 of his signs Wednesday morning from throughout the subdivision.”
So, would 300 extra campaign signs have made a difference? There’s no definitive answer, but some might argue it explains why those signs were left in Barrington Hills and not closer by Hoffman Estates. Others might say a little more effort might have changed the outcome for at least one candidate.
Why is this noteworthy? Because ten years ago all it took was one newly elected trustee to spark a change in the momentum of our village government, and it’s a shame to see any opportunity like that squandered.
