Candidate dying to post political signs in cemetery
If you need another example of why town politics in New England are always fun, just cross over the Sagamore Bridge and head to Sandwich.
There you’ll find David Darling, a former member of the town’s planning board who came dead last in a recent election for a seat on the board of selectmen. He has an idea that may improve his fortunes in future elections: he wants to open up more public land for posting campaign signs—including town cemeteries.
In Sandwich, candidates are allowed to post political signs on a limited amount of town land, but most if it is off-limits. Ending this era of signage restriction is a fresh political cause for Darling, The Cape Cod Timesreports.
Darling would want other public land opened up too, but he told the Times cemeteries would be ’’the perfect place’’ to put signs.
How important is this to Darling? He told the chairman of the board of selectmen in an email that if he doesn’t assist in advancing the initiative, “I am going to work against your success because you will not help me with my agenda.’’
So, important enough to cause a fracas. But why?
According to the Times, Darling spent most of his campaign cash on signs, but he struggled to find people who would post them. Darling only lost out on the selectmen seat by 97 votes, so if he had gotten his name in front of cemetery visitors…well, if only.
But hey, Darling insists that’s not what this is about! “This is not about me. This is about the democratic process in Sandwich,’’ he told the paper. So don’t go thinking forces like self-interest or vindictiveness are at play here. No, no, no—never in the arena of small-town Massachusetts politics.
Read more at The Cape Cod Times.
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