Someone put about ten Padgett signs in the medians in North Hills.

Note to Padgett camp- The people of North Hills do not like anyone trashing our boulevards. Come pick up the signs before they are removed. If you can find 10 people in NH that want one in their yards, that is okay, but not in the common areas.

If I understand correctly, signs in the ROW are ok as long as they don't block sight lines or get in the way of mowing. They have to come down right after the election tho.

Most campaigns don't put them up any more tho. Thank goodness, they look horrible.

BHarmon - if any candidate put signs in the median of Island Home Blvd. they'd be gone in about 10 minutes. We treasure that area, and wouldn't appreciate ANYBODY trashing it.

The Padgett signs seem to multiply at intersections, further west of the Middlebrook Pike and Weisgarber intersections to the Middlebrook Pike Gallaher View Rd intersection.

Not much longer, I keep telling myself, and this mess along our roadways can get cleaned up, at least for a few months.

"If I understand correctly, signs in the ROW are ok as long as they don't block sight lines or get in the way of mowing."

I don't think so. Straight from the Knox Election Commission page.

The law is very clear on this issue. Signs in the ROW are prohibited at all times. Article V, Section 10, subsection A10 of the City Charter states, "Temporary signs shall not be erected or otherwise fixed to any pole, tree, stone, fence, building structures or any object within the right-of-way of any street." Subsection A12 states "No sign shall be placed in any public right-of-way except publicly owned signs, directional signs, and those signs approved by the City Engineer."

Perhaps this is stating the obvious, but it has always been my opinion that when a candidate has a bunch of signs left over and no more addresses on the sign request list, they just start dumping them in the right-of-way all over the city. I see these unloaded signs as an act of desperation. It has been my experience with several local campaigns that the number of signs, whether in a yard or a median, does not always translate to votes. I can think of at least two races where the winning candidate did not have as many (or as big) signs as their opponent.

There must be some kind of saturation point where when reached, the redundancy is more obvious than any gains of name recognition leading to votes.

Would Weigel's be supporting Padgett?

The Weigel's at Cherry and I 40 has a large Padgett sign and many small ones right where their property line meets with the ROW.

Wonder if they agreed to the signs....

Becky, weigel probably did.

Response:

Good morning Rebecca,

Thanks so much for your email and for you being a Weigels Shopper! In regards to your email, Weigels doesn’t endorse any political figures at our stores and for the sign being up there to support Mark Padgett was not put up by Weigels. I am sorry if this may have offended you but it is on the state property side and not Weigels. We appreciate you letting us know and we hope you understand that we would not condone this in our stores.

Have a good day,

Kurt Weigel

I called the Knox Co Election Commission and they said to call Public Service and gave me the number that leads to 3-1-1. They said that all they do is send someone out to make sure the sign does not obstruct the line of sight for traffic. They are temporary signs and while they are a nuisance they are not subject to the regular laws and enforcement. Rachel was correct in her comment above.

Okay then, team Padgett knows how to skirt the law and trash up Knoxville.

BTW, I have never seen a Madeline sign in a ROW.

Several years ago when I ran for city council, my signs were removed by the city. We were careful to put signs in people's yards, but a few got in the middle of the grassy area on Moody where James White Parkway ends. One day when I came home I noticed all my signs were missing in my neighborhood, even the one in my yard. I was furious and called the Mayor's office to find out what happened to my signs. I was told they had to be fifteen feet back from city property line. I told the Mayor's office that the sign in my yard and my neighbor's yards should not have been taken. A man called and asked me if he could find my signs, where did I want them delivered. It seems one of the city workers was told to get the signs and he got aggressive. Anyway I asked that my signs be put in the back of my pickup truck parked at my work at the Labor Temple. The next day when I came out, my truck bed was full of my signs. Guess I was not a favorite of the administration as some of my opponents were alerted to temporarily move their signs.