DOT stuck with cleanup of forgotten political signs

State Department of Transportation workers are set to begin discarding abandoned political signs now that the 2008 election is over. Since the workers are cleaning while they're on the clock, taxpayers

News 12 Staff

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Nov 7, 2008, 12:22 AM

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Updated 5,970 days ago

State Department of Transportation workers are set to begin discarding abandoned political signs now that the 2008 election is over.

Since the workers are cleaning while they're on the clock, taxpayers get stuck with the bill. Some feel the funding to remove the signs should come from the campaigns.

"If they paid somebody to put them up, then they should pay somebody to take them down," says James Borzilleri, of Coram.

A fair number of the forgotten signs were actually posted illegally in the first place, placed on public property or utility poles.

The Nassau Republican Party and Suffolk Democratic Party actually urge candidates not to put up signs.

"I continuously pound into candidates' heads that signs don't vote," says Rich Schaffer, Suffolk Democratic Party chairman. "Go out and knock on some doors."