This is an awesome idea.
A political consultant is launching a Web site aimed shaming political candidates into limiting the posting of signs to addresses where the residents actually endorse their candidacies.
Greg Wythe’s emptylotprimary.tumblr.com invites people to submit photos of campaign signs at empty lots, empty buildings or other locations where there is no owner or resident expressing support for the candidate.
This is not a campaign against yard signs. Wythe is just after the clutter brought about by signs in places where there’s no one with a vote.
I contributed a couple of the pics that you’ll see on the Empty Lot Primary site, and I plan to contribute more – Lord knows, there will be more of them to document, despite this little effort to call out these visual polluters. This isn’t hard, y’all. Put your signs on the lawns and walls of people who want them there. If you can’t find anyone who wants one of your signs on their private property, that’s a sign, too. The fact that this has already hit a nerve is good to see.
In a bit of coincidentally fortuitous timing, this issue came up in Council last week:
Kudos to CM Sullivan for bringing it up, and to Mayor Parker for taking it a step further. There’s also a Twitter feed available for those of you who are into that sort of thing. Check it out, and contribute a photo when you can – Greg has more options as well.