Just last week I brought up the overabundance of signage related to two local politicians campaigning for office in Dakota County. One of those two was Mitch Scott who is running for Dakota County Sheriff. Well, in addition to his obnoxious black and yellow signs which seem to permeate every street corner and fence line in the South Metro which apparently multiply like rabbits on ecstasy, he has now gone one step too far and it’s time for it to stop him and any other local politician stupid enough to follow his example.
I have been walking with Mrs. Marcos every morning and as such have been getting back home a little later than I would normally leave to either walk or bike to the Apple Valley Transit Station. Well, long story short I ended up driving yesterday morning because my wife didn’t need the car that day. In the afternoon as I was walking back to my car I began noticing these long strips of black and yellow cardstock floating around the parking lot in the afternoon wind. I get to my car to find it surrounded by Mitch Scott for Dakota County Sheriff fliers which have dislodged themselves from many of the side windows of the cars they were placed on, in direct violation of the sign at Apple Valley Transit Station which specifically states no flyering/solicitation. Now, even if there is some ridiculously stupid law which allows candidates for political office to have their volunteers physically spam the hell out of everyone in a parking lot, I have a feeling that exemption does not include allowing litter to accumulate everywhere.
I have a feeling that Mitch Scott would be the first cop to pull a person over for throwing a piece of trash out a car window but he somehow allows his support network to plaster his face and URL all over the place and watch as it swirls around a parking lot on a blustery afternoon? This man needs to apologize to all Dakota County residents (update: he has in the comment section below) and then ensure that every single one of those fliers are picked up from any and all parking lots where they were left otherwise, well, he should receive the lowest number of votes based solely on his inability to make any sort of sound managerial decision about how his campaign literature is delivered which would be a direct reflection on his personal ethics and management experience.
What do you think about politicians passing out fliers and then allowing them to become liter in our cities? If there is some sort of exemption for these people should it be changed so that they cannot allow litter to accumulate? Should Mitch Scott apologize? Whatever you have to say go ahead and comment on as I’d love to hear your thoughts.
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August 31st, 2010 at 8:23 am
I’m against it unless he wins. I like driving in that area and I think I he wins we have the kindest sheriffs in the area who are kind and fair. If he loses screw it what he did was annoying. For the primary I voted for the judge who had the least amount of big signs. And your right there does seem to be a double standard that allows politicians to do things us regular people can’t. I’m not 100% sure but isn’t it also ok for politicians to call you even if you on the do not call list?
August 31st, 2010 at 8:47 am
I don’t know that a formal apology is necessary, but the decent thing for him to do would be to get his ass down there and pick them up.
August 31st, 2010 at 8:59 am
I don’t know if there is an exemption in these situations or not. I wouldn’t think so, though. For example, my HOA has a strict no solicitation policy in our neighborhood, and it definitely includes political activity.
August 31st, 2010 at 10:01 am
If Mitch Scott is the everyman he pro-ports to be, he should have no trouble:
Looks like the Sheriff Race is interesting at least. From the background thus far I probably prefer Scott to Dave Bellows. Not based on any particular skill set or experience. Simply because Dave Bellows was given the job by the Dakota County Council without any process other than Gudmundson said he was a good guy. If the Council wanted it, then I’d rather shake things up and give them something they don’t want.
The only troubling thing for me on Scott is where is he getting all this money. Who is behind this candidacy? It seems way to manufactured for a regular good old boy. Just look at this quote from his web site:
I don’t even know what that last sentence means/implies.
August 31st, 2010 at 10:05 am
I absolutely abhor this kind of flyer plastering. I get that during campaigns we get inundated with yard signs and knocks at our door to introduce candidates. But this kind of thing isn’t necessary and usually just leaves a big mess of paper on the ground.
(Though I do wonder when it was ever okay for businesses to put additional signage on the street that never seems to go away? Driving down Burnsville Parkway I get a headache looking at all the signs that have popped up, especially near heart of the city. Someone please – get rid of it!)
August 31st, 2010 at 10:52 am
Lame.
Did you email him and express your dissatisfaction?
And, yeah, I pretty much can’t stand any kind of interaction with candidates. Well, except when Tara Mack stopped by my place one hot summer day when I was hanging shelves in the garage. She’s much cuter in person and I was filthy and covered in sweat. It had all the makings of a great porn movie.
Anyhoo…..
August 31st, 2010 at 10:54 am
Do Not Call Lists, No Solicitation covenants, signing restrictions. Rest assured that when cities create and approve these rules, the politicians incorporate exemptions for political activity.
Greg, you’re 100% right, political calls are exempt from Do Not Call lists.
The only rule they have, is all signs on public property have to be removed the day after the election. I’ve been involved with enough campaigns to know the day after is pretty busy for winners and losers.
No Solicitation in housing devleopments has been overturned in court every time for candidates. Political speech is protected. You can say they can’t, but you really can’t stop them from doing it.
That being said.. getting flyers in park and ride lot, at least when I was taking the bus, pretty common. All those great offers to work from home, get new mortagages, diet pills and boner juices are ignored. With those I think you can push it local law enforcement if they can figure out who’s dropping the literature.
Politicians.. no luck.
August 31st, 2010 at 11:01 am
Tara Mack stopped by our place (she is very cute) at a bad time, too. Hubby & I had just gotten back from an early happy hour where we ran into some friends. One thing led to another and we were very “happy” by the time we got home. I believe that we reeked like a brewery and hot wings when she came to the door. I think she was very impressed with our conversation even though I don’t remember much of it. Hubby definitely liked the scenery. I think his thoughts were in the gutter with MSPD’s.
August 31st, 2010 at 11:23 am
Note for anyone who has never heard of Tara Mack and decides to Google image search her at work:
Apparently, there are two Tara Macks, one is a MN State Representative, the other is involved with Playboy Radio. Proceed with caution.
August 31st, 2010 at 1:45 pm
I don’t particularly enjoy the flyers myself, but I’m glad that political speech is exempted from various restrictions. The answer to bad political speech is good political speech, not less political speech.
August 31st, 2010 at 1:51 pm
The answer to litter is a fine. Political speech or not.
August 31st, 2010 at 2:01 pm
From the sounds of the reactions of MSPD and Mr. Robinson maybe the radio personality and the rep are one and the same.
August 31st, 2010 at 2:10 pm
Thanks for the heads up Reuben.
It doesn’t really matter to me what the laws are and yeah, I am all for free speech. What Scott’s campaign did was tacky, irresponsible, annoying, and lame.
August 31st, 2010 at 8:04 pm
Bill, we have ESP or something. I was just going to make a comment somewhere about those annoying flyers in the AVTS parking lot.
I will absolutely not vote for him because of this. Some people might say I’m an idiot for this but I don’t care. My biggest pet peve is crap being placed/stuck/slid on my car.
September 1st, 2010 at 6:56 am
Am dreading walking through the Burnsville Transit Station on Hwy 13 this Fall. “Litterature” is usually deposited there too. And there’s usually the obligatory personal appearance by candidates that I’ve already decided not to vote for. I’m busy trying to get to work and don’t have time to chit-chat at the bus stop.
September 1st, 2010 at 7:52 am
Some douchebag spray painted a red pens on the post near the no soliciting sign.
September 1st, 2010 at 8:02 am
Dan,
Yeah I took a photo of it: http://www.flickr.com/photos/bill_roehl/4948255732/ and e-mailed it to the MVTA already this morning.
I also picked up a couple of Mitch Scott fliers that I found directly in my path and threw them in the garbage cans next to the penis: http://www.flickr.com/photos/bill_roehl/4947672607/
September 1st, 2010 at 11:04 pm
Stupid auto correct on phone, I meant penis, not that your picture didn’t clearly illustrate what I was talking about.
When I got off the bus around 6pm, they had already painted over the penis. Thanks for emailing them, the flyers on the ground is trashy enough, we don’t need the crown jewel of Apple Valley looking any trashier.
September 2nd, 2010 at 8:30 am
I look fo the little things in a candidate that help set them apart from their opponent. If you look at the flyer you will see the picture has the AVPD blacked out. This is tacky and I expect a professional to sit in the office of Sheriff. Sorry Mitch, no vote for you.
September 2nd, 2010 at 10:00 am
I would like to first apologize if I offended anyone with my fliers. A volunteer placed them on vehicles prior to going to work. He told me about it and after reading your comments, it will not happen again. The goal was to never offend anyone, but to try and reach as many people as possible. With a County of 400,000 residents it is challenging to reach everyone.
Mikeh wondered where I am getting the funds to pay for all of these items. I announced my candidacy last September and had my first fund raiser in November and several others to follow. Those funds with donations from other supporters have helped finance my campaign.
Eric addressed the logo on my patch being blackout; unfortunately I was not able to leave the name on my patch. My administration advised I could wear the uniform, but I must black out the name. I appreciate all of the comments. Trust me neither I nor any of my people will place fliers on any vehicles in the future.
If any of you have further questions or concerns, I would be happy to speak with you.
September 2nd, 2010 at 11:06 am
You can’t make everybody happy in politics, whether it’s with your policy positions or your campaign tactics. Obviously the campaign literature distribution at the park & ride was out of line. But covering up a logo on a military or police uniform for a campaign photo is very standard and that criticism was way too nitpicky.
September 4th, 2010 at 10:57 am
Mr. Scott, I would recommend placing flyers on door knobs in tightly congested neighborhoods instead of sticking them on cars. That way, people will take them inside their house and at least throw them away, instead of taking it off their car and throwing it onto the ground.
October 31st, 2010 at 9:04 am
Mr. Scott: I do not live in Apple Valley but you are on my ballot.I was going to vote for you but not so sure now. I noticed you did not state you would make an effort to undo the offense by making sure there are no yellow fliers littering the city. If you truly meant what you said about not intending to offend anyone then I suggest you pull someone off the campaign trail and do the right thing and go search for yellow flier litter in the area of the complaint. If not you are just like the rest of the politicians we all have come to loath with there say one thing do another mentality.