Letters: Politicians' signs add much expense
Town of Huntington Superintendent of Highways Peter S. Gunther pulls out and looks at signs inside the sign shop at the Town of Huntington highway yard in Elwood July 23, 2014. Credit: Steve Pfost
I was bemused to read the letter from the Brookhaven Town Board representative who ingenuously advocated for plastering local politicians' names on surfaces to tell her electorate who their representatives are ["Politician names on signs = accountability," Aug. 10].
Unless each name is accompanied by a detailed map showing each board member's district, this does not succeed in identifying who your specific representative is.
Also, I can only assume that the last time the letter writer taught social studies was before the advent of the Internet. Anyone with a computer can easily look up a representative.
The chief reason elected public servants crave the public display of their names is the free advertising it brings and the happy consequence of an increased likelihood of votes in November.
The absolute worst case I can recall is that of a former Huntington superintendent of highways. His name was emblazoned on countless wooden traffic horses. When he was voted out of office, what happened to all that personalized hardware? They either had to be updated or replaced at significant expense.
Craig T. Robertson, Huntington Station
With all due respect to Councilwoman Connie Kepert, the argument against placing representatives' names on signs has little to do with accountability. Those who are interested know who their representatives are. Those who don't know but have a need will find out who they are. The rest just don't care.
It's about expense. It costs a lot of money to change all of these signs every time we elect somebody new.
If you endeavor to make our communities better places, we will know who you are. It's that simple.
Robert K. Broder, Stony Brook
