Councilman stands up vs. campaign pollution

One Durham politician at least has taken a stand on visual litter ­­-- campaign signs, that is.

Rob Griffin with Scientific Properties wrote the mayor and council members to complain about candidates' signs in the public right-of-way near his firm's Venable Center at Pettigrew and Roxboro streets. Griffin said the signs' placement suggested that Scientific Properties is supporting those candidates, which is not the case: “We, as a company, remain neutral.”

Councilman Eugene Brown answered: “There is legally no reason why we should allow political signs, including mine, to visually pollute our city. … There is a propensity for such signs to linger far after the election is over, especially by those candidates who lost. As a result, the public could be forced to live with such a nuisance for months. Denver [Colo., where Brown's twin brother is a city councilman] only allows home owners to display political signs, hence the term, yard sign. In my judgment, this demonstrates real grass root support and not just the ability of a candidate to flood our streets, landscapes and parks with personal advertisements. Here's to a cleaner environment! Now all we have to do is convince my colleagues of the folly of the status quo.”

Brown, of course, is not up for re-election this year.