Signs of Strife
Political sign complaints, damage and larceny have been common lately, say residents and Police Chief John Rader.
A Republican sign on Maple Ave. has been a focus of conflict between passionate partisans while also attracting attention from Village of Warwick Building Inspector Boris Rudzinski—one political sign conflict among many. A neighbor, Lisa Cavanagh, noticed how the discord played out. A large Trump Vance sign was written over in red cursive with the words, “Lock him up,” she said.
A new Trump sign was put up with smaller signs on it that expressed opposition to immigrants and Proposition 1 and other issues. “Lock him up” was again later found painted on it, and the cycle repeated.
Robert Schreibeis said he had been renting the property for 15 years and had put up the sign with permission from the owner and support from the Warwick Republican Committee, which paid for the sign.
Cavanagh noted the proliferation of Republican signs.
“On Covered Bridge Rd., signs are one after another, every three feet, 17 to 20 signs on empty property. Someone on the Warwick Republican Committee is using property where the owners aren’t around,” Cavanagh said.
Robert Krahulik, of the Warwick Republican Committee, defended the signs.
“We get permission from renters and property owners, but we’re getting complaints,” he said. “We put a sign on the side of a barn on 94 and elsewhere on 94, purchased by the property owner, that we constructed. First we put up four, and 10 more were asked for.”
A Warwick Republican Committee press release posted on Facebook on Oct. 25 asserted, “The other side must be better. We call on Democrats to publicly DENOUNCE the defiling of free speech in our community . . . Again, this election is an opportunity to take our country back from the radicals that currently hold office. Please SHARE this post, TAG friends, stay civil and respectful, and VOTE REPUBLICAN.”
In one comment, Janet Folino wrote, “Why is it necessary to destroy trump signs. It seems that Kamala’s are still all right. Who is doing the hating.”
A Warwick Democrat who did not want to be named said he noticed that, in the hour after classes let out at Warwick Valley High School, Trump signs on both sides of West St. between the school and the Village of Warwick were slashed.
As for “hating,” he also noted that signs lampooning transgender people and Harris have been multiplying around Warwick, including in front of St. Stephen’s Catholic Church cemetery.
Asked how he felt about the signs, Deacon Tom MacDougall, who oversees the cemetery, said, “I hate them.”
His requests for their removal were met by assertions that signs could be placed in the right-of-way along the road. MacDougall had been a building inspector in
Greenville after years in the New York City Fire Department and then becoming a chaplain for the department as they handled the 911 aftermath. He understood the complexities of sign restriction.
Village of Warwick Building Inspector Boris Rudzinski said that political and nonprofit signs could be put in the right-of-way, but the cemetery signs were oversized and had to be taken down.
As for the possibility they could be considered “hate speech,” Rudzinski said, “Who will evaluate? Interpreting what a sign says doesn’t meet Constitutional rights. I would have had to ask an attorney and deep pockets could fight it. On private property, even if someone’s mean, it’s private property.”
Meanwhile, Democrats say their Harris/Walz signs have been speedily disappearing since September.
“I put out two Harris/Walz signs that were quickly stolen,” said Allen Clarkson. “Interesting that they didn’t take Ryan, Skoufis or other signs–-just Harris/Walz.”
Then on Nov. 1, Warwick Democratic Party Chair Lauren Vitkofsky said, “I can tell you dozens of signs have been removed over the past 48 hours along every major road in Warwick: 17a, 94, 1a, Ball Rd. Literally every one of those roads. One of our members had five of her seven signs taken off her property last night. I don’t want to give a name without her permission, but she let me know this morning. Another had his taken off his lawn, but it wasn’t stolen. I know of at least two non-members in the Village that had their Harris signs stolen the evening after Applefest.”
“Barbara and I put up about 18 to 20 signs prior to the Alison Esposito event on Halloween,” said Democrat Trish Miller. “By this morning, all but one in a very hard to reach spot have been taken down. And all the Alison Esposito signs are still standing.”
Two Democrats also said they had seen someone in a white pickup truck with a trailer sporting an American flag making quick stops to take Harris signs.
In an Oct. 8 press release, Democratic Chair Vitkofsky wrote:
“Political signs are a form of free speech protected by the First Amendment, and they are private property. Damaging, defacing, or stealing them is a crime. For years we have heard from Democrats in our region that their political signs are regularly stolen. It happens year after year, often within mere hours of the signs being placed.
This year, we have even seen a few instances of vandalism directed at Republican signs. We want to be clear: We condemn all vandalism, theft, and destruction of political signs, regardless of political party.
No one affiliated with our committee has had anything to do with attacks on Republican signs. We share the sentiment that signs celebrating an insurrectionist with multiple criminal convictions are a blight on our community, but our neighbors have a right to express their views.”
Those views may be troubling, but Building Inspector Rudzinski makes decisions based on size and placement.
When Schreibeis put up the Maple Ave. sign anew, it was repeatedly marked up, Cavanagh said. She contacted the owner on Sept. 29, who said she had asked realtor Nick Cardone, who represents the property, now for sale, to take down the sign.
On Oct. 3 Cavanagh contacted the owner again, writing, “The political signs are an eyesore. What’s your feeling? It’s your right to have it up.”
Meanwhile, Rudzinski said he had warned the owner that the sign where it was, obstructing the view of traffic for drivers leaving the property, could result in a $1000 fine. Schreibeis took the sign down on Oct.7.
“I don’t want to upset the landowner,” he said. “The police showed up. I said, ‘Let’s get this sign down.’ It turned uncomfortable. It wasn’t fun. Other signs in Florida don’t get bothered. We took it down.”
Meanwhile, Republican Krahulik was miffed by Rudzinski’s threat of a fine for the Maple Ave. sign. He noted that sign size limit is 4’x 6’.
“I brought a ruler to measure the Gillibrand sign behind CVS. It’s 3.75’ x 7.5’,” Krahulik said of the sign for Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Kirsten Gillibrand.
Amid the many sign conflicts, Warwick Police Chief John Rader has been getting sign-related complaints.
“There have been reports made about damage and larcenies of political signs that are being investigated in the same manner as any other reports of that kind,” he said. “Signs being placed on private property, without the owner's permission is a civil matter and not a criminal matter. . . It is common around election time for these type of incidents to occur.”
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