Hi folks. John here. I haven't posted in a while, but have continued to shark/ remove signs from my area of FM 1960 in NW Houston. I am dealing with an individual who has repeatedly spammed with cardboard signs saying, "Computer Problems?". This guy has replace his signs more than 10 times. I will break him. I collected 8 signs this morning and will reinstall them tomorrow night with the same phone number, but with the message changed to "Free Yorkie Puppies", "Free Teacup Persian Kittens", or "Obama is the Answer". I will dispose of them in a couple of days, but in the mean time I reacon he's gonna get a bunch of phone calls!!!
#3. "RE: Going on the offense" In response to Reply # 2
Thanks for asking. Not using my real name.
Some spammers give up easily. Some do not. Hinsley law firm was one of my favorite projects. We beat them. They were bad enough that I was able to get the attorneys with Harris County involved. I even got an email (to my John Thrash address) from Robert Hinsley himself. I really hacked that old man off. I collected and disposed of over 1000 of his signs and emailed him each time with a report of how many hours (or minutes) his signs stood before they were removed.
#4. "RE: Going on the offense" In response to Reply # 3
John, My newest tactic is to cut the sign so it is unreadable. With the standard coroplast sigh on 2 wires that means cut bottom to top in half and spin one half around. The signs on poles or sticks I cut off and remove everything but the phone number. I then always call 311 and tell the city about the signs placement. It then becomes their responsibility to remove it and they can get the number. If I remove the signs the CE's do not get the number (which is ok with them because I just did their job for them and they do not have to follow up). I kinda like to keep reporting them because I always ask that they report the resolution to me. Leaving a cut sign in place also tells other spammers that the location is patrolled. I am amazed by the spammers who will remove the cut sign and put a new one in the same spot. So I cut it and report it again. At this moment there are my leavings all over North Dallas. Betty
#5. "RE: Going on the offense" In response to Reply # 4
After all these years of CAUSS doing a great job and lots of wonderful anecdotes, is there a growing consensus (with or without some solid statistics) about what should a shark do with the snipe signs in areas with no CE?
How about in areas with weak or mediocre Code Enforcement?
#6. "RE: Going on the offense" In response to Reply # 5
<<How about in areas with weak or mediocre Code Enforcement?>>
Call and complain to code enforcement (CE). CE only acts upon complaints. Even an elderly crippled lady can usually pick up the phone and call in a violation. Some cities now have submission systems on the Internet.
In no enforcement areas, manually picking up the signs is the best way, if that can be done regularly. If I'm traveling through an area one time, picking up the sign will have little effect on the area. In that case, I use ugly litter stickers to educate and recruit people to help. Leaving a sticker on the sign will recruit a local to maintain the area. The attached word document can be altered for any area.
