Sign proposal abandoned
By Walter Wright
Advertiser Staff Writer
The Outdoor Circle has decided against issuing a challenge to candidates to limit their use of campaign signs, out of concern that would jeopardize the group's nonprofit status.
Richard Ambo • The Honolulu Advertiser
Two years ago, the Outdoor Circle congratulated 19 candidates who had been elected while accepting its challenge to refrain from posting campaign signs, commending "their sensitivity to our visual environment." Most of the 19 were unopposed or incumbents.
Campaign signs crowd the corner of Farrington Highway and Awanui Street in Waipahu. The Outdoor Circle says it gets five complaints a day about such displays.
The Outdoor Circle, which helped get billboards banned in Hawai'i, said it had been receiving five complaints a day about campaign signs posted for the fall elections. But when the idea of reissuing the challenge was raised, some of the organization's board members expressed concern that taking any role in political campaigns might jeopardize the group's nonprofit status, Chief Executive Officer Mary Steiner said.
Steiner said she hoped candidates would restrain themselves voluntarily and that voters would urge them to limit their use of signs.
The posting of campaign signs was formerly banned in Hawai'i outside the 45-day period before an election and 10 days afterward. That changed more than a decade ago, when the state Supreme Court ruled in a case involving Mayor Frank Fasi that a time limit on political signs was unconstitutional.
One result is an early blossoming of signs.
"Some areas which are really visually appealing have as many as 10 signs on them," said Wai'anae resident Wendy Bright. "This goes way beyond protecting someone's right to have a sign in their yard. You can drive along the coast and see it is on all the main thoroughfares and fences."
Name recognition is critical for 95 percent of candidates, and campaign signs play a big role, said Jim Loomis, an advertising and public relations expert who has worked for political candidates for years.
"I don't think you can get too many signs out there," he said. Only 23 percent of registered voters knew Jeremy Harris before he ran for mayor, Loomis said. "I am always astonished at how most people are not aware of who is running, which is a sobering reality for all of us."
Signs are a relatively inexpensive way for candidates to focus their campaigns in their districts. A typical yard poster can cost $4 to $10, depending on materials and volume.
City Council candidate Mike Gabbard, who is running in Leeward O'ahu, said he is trying to put up as many signs as he can.
"It's increasing name identification, and it also helps show how much support we have in the community," he said.
City Council candidate Charles Djou, who is running for the Waikiki to Hawai'i Kai seat, said "there may be a point where all the signs become 'white noise' and people don't see them. But as a matter of political reality, it is sort of 'keeping up with the Joneses.' "
City Council candidate Barbara Marshall, a former television reporter running in Windward O'ahu, said she wrestled with the sign issue but concluded that even those with name recognition need some signs.
"I have to get 95,000 people in my district to know it is this Barbara Marshall who's running for office, and I can't sit down in everyone's living room," she said.
Reach Walter Wright at wwright@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8054.
