Sign thieves

Dear Editor,

May I please use your newspaper to speak to the (probably young) people who are stealing campaign signs?

It isn't funny! It's a crime! Those campaign signs are a very important part of our democratic process, which made the United States of America the greatest country in the world. If you'll look up the definition of democracy, you'll find that it means a great deal, but especially a government by the people and ruled by the majority. Those campaign signs are a candidate's means of informing the people who they are and what office they seek. The candidates' friends place them in their own yards to show their support.

In case you don't know, those signs are expensive! You have to buy them in lots of at least 50, and they cost somewhere around $400 per lot. If each and every candidate will call Red Willow County Sheriff Gene Mahon and tell him how many signs of yours have been stolen, he'll know how serious a crime it is.

As you probably know, if you're prone to stealing, the more valuable the property, the more serious the crime. You may also know that the sentence for the crime is imposed according to whether the property was recovered. There is still time for you to "sneak" the signs back in the yards from where you stole them. (I'll be adding 50 more of my own this weekend.)

Election Day, Nov. 5, is one of the most important days on the calendar in this great country.

If it's attention you're seeking, now you've received it!

Sincerely,

Pauletta Gerver

Red Willow County Clerk and Election Commissioner