Bonnie Van Slyke: I’d Like To Dispense With Campaign Signs
It happens every campaign, and it has happened again. Campaign signs mysteriously walk away, never to be seen again.
Campaign signs create visual clutter and contribute to plastic pollution. They are also expensive and require monitoring to check if they are still in place, have blown into the woods, been taken by state road crews, or been maliciously removed by someone who doesn’t like the sign.
Nearly 20 percent of my signs were removed within 48 hours of placing them on land where they had been warmly welcomed. I first learned that mine were missing in a Facebook post by another candidate who had also lost some signs and mentioned that mine were gone too.
I originally planned to have no signs this election. However, after seeing many other signs, I have opted for a small number of signs to make sure people know I am a candidate. Reducing the number of signs has avoided most of the cost and clutter, but they still seem like a drain on time and effort and still add to pollution.
Perhaps in future elections, local candidates could all agree on one thing, and that would be to skip the campaign signs.
The banner image for this post is what my missing signs looked like.
Bonnie Van Slyke, the author of this post, is a candidate for Town Council in the December 2, 2025 election. She was a member of the Charlestown Town Council from 2014 to 2022. She was the Town Council Liaison to the Planning Commission, Parks and Recreation Commission, and Senior Citizens Commission. She is a former officer and member of the Board of Directors of the Frosty Drew Observatory & Science Center, a former Chair of the Zoning Board of Appeals in Harvard, MA and a former member of the Board of Trustees of the Harvard Conservation Trust. Bonnie is a freelance copy editor, technical writer, and publications specialist. You can learn more about Bonnie on her profile page.
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November 16, 2025 @ 9:30 am
Just keep doing what you are doing right here on the CCA! The reason the signs are disappearing is because they are scared of the threat you pose to this current council’s agenda!! This council is going to get an even bigger surprise next election. They are so far out of touch with the town’s citizens that it is pathetic. It appears that this council is not considering about the new development for housing and bringing in new families to our town. With the new housing brings the need for a new school system. New school systems costs money which equals higher taxes. “Tax and spend” politics!! They are so out of touch with the taxpayers of this town that it is disgusting. At a recent town council meeting I tried to approach the council president with a question. She turned to me and said quite abruptly, “The meeting is over!”, and then turned and walked away. Nice!! I have been a very active member of this town for many years, I did not deserve that disrespect from a town council president.
November 16, 2025 @ 10:12 am
Just for the record, we don’t believe the sign removal is done by other candidates or that they would support anyone else doing it.
November 16, 2025 @ 8:38 am
Brilliant idea Bonnie. I love it.
Something tells me however that it will be very difficult to get all candidates for a particular position to agree, especially in elections with more than two candidates.