Stealing signs is just wrong

To the editor: With all political talk focusing on the presidential election, I’d like to switch gears and focus on local politics, specifically the Ohio District 30 State Senate race between Republican Tim Ginter and Democrat Jason Wilson. My wife and I are supporters of Ginter. We believe in what he stands for and see his economic plans bringing jobs back to the district. We support Ginter with signs in our front yard that read “Tim Ginter for State Senate.” Waking up on the morning of Oct. 12, I noticed a curious thing in my yard (or should I say I didn’t notice a curious thing) — Ginter’s signs were gone. The other signs in our yard were still there and unharmed, but the signs in support of Tim Ginter were stolen. As I spoke with my neighbors, we discovered three other homes in the immediate area had their signs stolen as well. The metal frame of the signs remained in tact and still firmly in the ground, but the plastic slip with the support for Ginter was gone. Now all that stands is a bare metal frame. I wanted to see if I could get some more signs to replace the ones that were taken, so I called the Ginter headquarters to ask for more. I spoke with a volunteer who informed me that more than 100 signs throughout the district (Jefferson, Columbiana, Belmont, Harrison and Tuscarawas counties) had been stolen. That’s not to mention the article I read on Ginter’s Web site (www.timginter.org) that said Jason Wilson signs are being placed directly in front of Ginter signs. Obviously, someone is purposely doing this. The fact that the only signs that were stolen were Ginter signs shows me there may be something going on behind the scenes. This not only shows bad manners, but it is just downright wrong. To have support for someone is one thing, but to try and sabotage that person’s opponent is crossing the line. I hope whoever did this will stop immediately, and I hope Wilson will make it clear that he does not support this kind of action. People should know what their options are when it comes to local politics. Name recognition is a big factor in who people decide to vote for in local races, but how will voters know what their options are if someone is covering up half of their ballot? Chris Brock East Liverpool