Commissioner reports campaign signs stolen

Commissioner reports campaign signs stolen



By CHAD SMITH
chad.smith@staugustine.com
Publication Date: 07/31/08

St. Johns County Commissioner Ben Rich, who is running for re-election in the fall, reported that between 10 and 15 of his campaign signs had been stolen around the county.

Rich reported the thefts at the Sheriff's Office on Wednesday and estimated their value was $100, according to a police report.

In a telephone interview, Rich said the signs went missing less than 24 hours after he or his supporters posted them.

"We put out kind of a sampling of them to see what would happen to them, and they went away almost immediately," he said.

He said it appeared there was a concerted effort to take his signs rather than random acts of theft since they were allegedly stolen from the northwestern part of the county down to the southeastern.

He said this also happened to him four years ago, when he was first elected, and it hurts a small campaign like his where yard signs and walking door to door are virtually all the candidate has to make his points with the voters.

"(The signs are) part of the political process, and when people start tampering with the political process by commit criminal offenses such as theft, you have a collapse of the political process," he said.

State Attorney John Tanner, who is also up for re-election, said earlier this month that his office is offering a $500 reward for information that leads to a prosecution of those who steal campaign signs.

To report such a theft, Tanner said people should call his office or their local sheriff's office.

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