On Good Friday I called a local discount department store that put up hundreds of signs in my neighborhood, on public medians and embankments, on utility poles, and I mean two or three 4-sq. foot signs on one pole, in front of other businesses and residences, and blowing all over the streets. Well you get the idea. They didn't care. They aren't concerned with the neighborhood, so why should anyone in the neighborhood care whether some heartless corporation gets to do free advertising?

I was able to get in touch with the township on Monday, who said that I should feel free to call the police on weekends or holidays if such and incident occurs again and ask them to do a report. The twp. is going to contact the store to let them know they can't post signs on other people's property.

Other spammers haven't saturated my neighborhood to this extent, but it is the same principle: they are doing something illegal and unwanted by the community and don't care.

I'm the first person to defend free speech, but putting a sign on someone else's land isn't free speech, it's littering, and is intrusive. What do the spammers care about decaying signs, urban blight, and waste disposal? They don't have to deal with it--the property owners do. They think people who are exercising their own rights to uphold the decision of the community (to not have ugly litter) are infringing on THEIR rights. Why do the spammers think their "right" to litter the landscape is more important than other people's rights?

What I'd really like to do is take all those signs and dump them in the front yard of the people who put them up and claim it's my right to free expression granted by the first ammendment. I don't think that they would claim it's not litter or intrusive in that case. (Of course most of these people probably live in slovenly places, which is the only explanation as to why they don't have any qualms about littering other people's communities.)

A town near me is aggressive about keeping these signs off of utility poles. What options does a municipality have? Have any fined people found putting these signs up? Have any found out the source of the 800 "work from home" phone numbers and charge them for the cleanup, and/or fine them? Has anyone gone after the sign manufacturers for producing material intended for illegal uses? Why is this pyramid scheme even continued to be allowed to operate?

Here's a free speech clue: It's legal to mail flyers or put them in people's mailboxes. That's protected by free speech and doesn't make the neighborhood look rundown and tacky. Try earning an honest living through this method.

And I have to comment on the "get a life" messages. If you're a spammer, you've already been dismissed. If you're just someone who thinks we have nothing better to do with our time, what the heck are YOU doing here? We are discussing something important to us. YOU are wasting your time reading about something you don't even care about, and then posting messages about it. That's REALLY pathetic.

Hi:

Thanks for your post. I like a lot of what you said.

You mentioned the "get a life" posts. Usually, these are spammers who have recently been severely "shark bitten" and don't want to believe that there are a lot of people who clean up illegal signs from their neighborhoods. We usually let them post here once or twice, just to vent their frustration, then they have to go away and cry in their beer.

Let me also point out one small error: I believe it is a federal offense to place any material in a mailbox designated to receive USPS mail.

DenverShark

As a nature lover, I was walking along the Cherry Creek path. Glaring at me from one of the beautiful, old trees, was a huge cross, with a personal inscription on it. The parks are areas for all of us to enjoy, not for someone to put their personal "things" up, especially not nailed to a tree. The next time I passed that tree I had a hammer and I pulled the piece off and stuck it in the garbage can. Unfortunately, the very next time I walked there, it was back. I took it off again and haven't seen it since. Why do people believe that everything is for their personal use and abuse? Let them put the crosses (or whatever)up in their own backyard (or living room). I find it an offense not only to my eyes, but especially to nature, which must put up with humans' lack of respect.

Hi:

I suggest you contact the City of Denver, Code Enforcement offices, and Parks and Recreation district offices. Tell them the location and politely ask them to deal with the offense.

Note: there was a recent Colorado Supreme Court ruling that clearly defined roadside crosses (and signs, etc) as litter that may be removed by anyone.

DenverShark

Here's the case for those that are interested:

http://www.ffrf.org/fttoday/junejuly01/bolton.html

I'm not a spammer. Infact I would be for any organization that wanted to do something about it. Or at least I would have been until encountered your patronizing vomit colored flyers littering my neighborhood. What an interesting idea of community service you people have. I've reported your illegal postings to the local enforcement commity. You all deserve some applause for alienating so many people who might have supported you.

LAST EDITED ON 09-02-02 AT 02:25 PM (CDT)

Dude, some sharks put up stickers, especially in areas that are plagued by illegal signs. Sting operations are being set up, but until law enforcement closes the vice, it will be up to citizens to remove or deal with street spam. Removing the signs is not enough, since in the plagued areas, they are quickly replaced. Thus stickers are sometimes used to

a) tell the public that the signs are illegal and that individuals can remove them,
b) encourage the public not to do business will illegal business operators (aka con artists),
c) tell the spammers that illegal signs will not be tolerated.

If you want to help, please remove an illegal sign or two in your neighborhood, sticker and all. Your neighbors will appreciate it. And so will we. Remember, the ultimate objective is to put CAUSS out of business.

DenverShark