The placement of political signs has also caused some concern during this election season. At a recent council meeting, member Bryan Maher raised the issue that candidates were putting political signs on the grassy areas between the sidewalks and the roadways, as opposed to on lawns, as had been previously required by the township.
Council member Linda Geevers noted that township land-use manager Sam Surtees had reviewed the regulation and made the decision that signs could be placed in the grassy areas nearest the roadways, and that all candidates would be allowed to place signs there.
The pertinent regulation, Section 200-152 of the Township Code, states:
“A. General sign regulations. (4) Temporary signs shall be located on a lot so that they are not in the public right-of-way and shall not interfere with sight distances at street intersections or ingress or egress points to a lot or cause a public safety hazard. No such signs shall be located on any public property. There shall be no placement of such signs between public roads and sidewalks or within six feet of a public road where no sidewalk exists.”
Mayoral candidate Hemant Marathe has taken exception to this revision, alleging that this revision benefits Mayor Shing-Fu Hsueh’s campaign. Nonetheless, all three mayoral candidates, as well as numerous other candidates, have taken advantage of this policy revision, and all have placed signs between sidewalks and roadways, rather than on people’s lawns.
In another twist on political signs, the police reported they had located signs from both the Hsueh and Marathe campaigns in Upper Freehold. “Over the weekend of October 18-20, approximately 100 West Windsor signs were dumped along the Assunpink Creek in Upper Freehold,” said West Windsor Police Chief Joe Pica. “I received a call from the state Division of Fish and Wildlife, and went to retrieve the signs. We recovered over 50 of the red Hemant Marathe team signs, and over 40 of the green Shing-Fu Hsueh signs.
“We will be dusting each of the signs for fingerprints, and will conduct an investigation. If we are able to ascertain who the perpetrators are, they will be facing felony theft charges,” the chief said.
“The week before, we had received calls from all three campaigns [Marathe, Richard Visovsky, and Hsueh] claiming that their signs were being removed and in some cases replaced,” Pica added.
Candidates Debate. The nine candidates for West Windsor mayor and council positions have been invited to debate Tuesday, October 29, from 10 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. at the West Windsor Council Chamber.
