PORT ANGELES – As the February 11 deadline approaches to vote for or against the Port Angeles School District Capital Levy, those in favor are reporting an increase in vandalism to their campaign signs.
Steve Methner, committee chair for Port Angeles Citizens for Education, says 2 large signs were stolen from 8th Street and from First and Race Streets, and someone has been writing opposing comments on about 15 of the yard signs and reposting them elsewhere, often in places where campaign signs are not permitted.
“This is several hundred dollars of defaced or damaged property or stolen property. So, of course we reported it to the police and we’ve also made clear to the folks on the “yes” side that none of this behavior is going to be tolerated either from us or from people in opposition. So I’ve made it clear to our volunteers and I’ve also reached out to the volunteers on the “no” side, but we really would like to move on from this as a distraction, because we think it’s probably just some isolated folks who feel strongly. We don’t feel like it’s happening in a coordinated way from from an opposition group.”
We reached out to one of the most vocal opponents of the levy, Dan Shotthafer, also known as Breakman Dan, with the group Citizens For Affordable Schools, for a comment.
“I condemn that in the strongest terms possible. They should be arrested and prosecuted, whoever they are. The bad thing, it hurts the basic ideas of the campaign, for that kind of thing to be happening. And you know, it takes away from the message, which, you know, they have their message and we have our message. I don’t condone any such activity that might be going on out there and it’s terrible.”
The RCW (29A.84.040) that applies to removing or defacing political advertising says it’s a misdemeanor punishable by a maximum of 90 days in jail or $1,000 fine.
Photo: Stack of recently defaced signs.