Richmond Hill residents upset about ‘unwanted’ election signs
Calls, complaints to candidate, bylaw department
YorkRegion.com
Sept. 16, 2014
By Kim Zarzour
Did you discover a campaign sign on your front lawn this weekend - one that you didn’t ask for?
You’re not alone.
Richmond Hill residents are voicing surprise, concern and anger after someone placed campaign signs supporting Carmine Perrelli on their lawns without their permission.
They say they did not ask for the signs and do not want them on their private property because they do not support Perrelli - a ward 2 candidate who is running for mayor.
Most disturbing, they say, was a note left at their doors thanking them for their “continued support” and for giving their permission to erect a sign - both statements that residents say are untruths.
Sam Carmon is one of those unhappy homeowners.
Last Friday, at 10 a.m., he left the house and returned at 11:30 a.m. to find the Perrelli sign on his lawn and a note saying, “when I came by your house, either yourself or someone residing at your home gave me permission to place the sign on your lawn. Thank you”.
It didn’t seem right, Carmon said, because neither he nor his wife gave permission. Seeing signs up and down the street, he asked his neighbours, including members of a family from Iran who’d just moved to the area and said they had “no idea” who Perrelli is.
The other residents were as surprised and upset by the signs as he was, Carmon said.
“I’m not sure which laws are broken, Town of Richmond Hill bylaws? Ontario election laws? Surely it can’t be correct and legal to do that.”
David Yee was surprised to see the sign on his and his neighbours’ lawns when he got home from work, at about 4:30 p.m. Friday. In speaking with five neighbours, none said they’d given permission to anyone regarding the signs, he said.
One neighbour was home all day and saw two men in a red truck putting up the signs – but no one knocking or ringing doorbells, he said.
“The flyer in the door handle was the final straw,” he said. “How arrogant to thank us for our support when we weren’t even home.”
Yee called the number printed in the flyer. The voice mailbox was full.
“I figured other people beat me in leaving an angry voicemail,” he said.
“I am upset, as I feel this is an illegal act since my family was not asked to have the sign put on our property. My wife has since thrown it out... As a teacher, I work all day to teach kids to do the right thing; then I come home to this? Seriously?”
Sean Martell noticed on the weekend that homes in his neighbourhood, Rocksprings Avenue and Owl Ridge Road, were suddenly blanketed with Perrelli signs in a 24-hour period - “easily three to four times what we saw from all candidates last time.
“There’s one on my lawn... and a note saying Mr. Perrelli was here and we gave permission for the sign. Funny thing is that I was home and no one knocked or rang the bell or asked permission.”
Martell said the unwanted signs and other items in the news raise ethical questions about the candidate and made him decide against voting for him.
Asked to explain what happened, Perrelli said in an email he has permission from more than 7,000 residents to display his election sign on their front lawns and he has only ordered 5,000 signs.
“I have no reason to put up signs without permission when we can’t possibly fill all the permitted orders,” he said.
“I will leave it to your readers to figure out who is making these claims.”
In a later email, he added, “with over 5,000 signs being installed by 20 teams of volunteer sign crews, is it possible that some signs were placed in error or that some residents forgot they gave permission months ago? Of course, that is why I left a ‘sign thank-you letter’ at every sign location with my phone number. Anyone not wanting a sign simply had to call and I would have gladly had it picked up.”
Some residents who contacted The Liberal said they removed the unwanted signs, only to have them re-erected a few hours later.
Others said they felt uncertain whether they could remove the signs, concerned that they could be held liable in some way.
Morris Lucchetta, manager of inspections for the town, said homeowners are within their rights to remove signs placed on their property.
As a courtesy, he advises residents can contact the candidate and ask him/her to remove it within a specific time period, after which you will dispose of it yourself.
If the signs are on public property, however, citizens are not permitted to touch the signs, he said. If you believe signs on public lands violate sign rules, he suggests contacting bylaw staff at 905-771-0198 or email bylaw@richmondhill.ca.
The Region of York has its own specific rules governing campaign signs on regional roads. Information on regional rules is available here: bit.ly/YOKZVS
Candidates in the October election were given the green light to erect campaign signs after Friday, the close of nominations.
