Groundhog or no, count on three more weeks of yard signs
Harbingers of spring: sprouting daffodils, chirping robins, and, in Acton, political yard signs.
Harbingers of spring: sprouting daffodils, chirping robins, and, in Acton, political yard signs.
The perennial placards have their detractors. Some in town have proposed detente — to no avail.
“The demand was there for my network to try to have a way to show support,” Select Board hopeful Sam Hiersteiner told The Acton Bridge.
Fellow Select Board candidate Dean Banfield said he’s also buying signs this year.
As new signs go up, past candidates offer ideas for what to do once each season’s politically charged plastic completes its duty.
‘Making it an issue’
Banfield said he suggested skipping signs in 2026’s lone contested municipal race.
“I didn’t really get an answer,” he said. “So, I guess we’ll be doing yard signs.”
Hiersteiner said Banfield made the suggestion, but he “ended up being the one who said, ‘No, I think I’m going to do it anyway.’”
Either way, this has happened before. Former Select Board member Matt Johnson said he suggested not buying signs during his 2020 race against Henry Dane.
“Henry wouldn’t go for it,” he told The Bridge last year.
Dane said he doesn’t remember the details, but someone did propose a stand-down during one of his campaigns.
It might be a “political gambit,” he said, similar to national office-seekers promising to reject corporate political action committee money — a no-sign proffer “makes you kind of look like a constructive, good candidate.”
Signs are an “indication about the amount of support you have,” Dane said, and they’re a relatively cheap way to boost name recognition as spending on social and digital media soars.
Signs’ second act
Hiersteiner said he’s looking for a “creative way” to repurpose his signs after election day.
2024 School Committee candidate Liz Cobbs still has her signs and said she plans to paint them a neutral color and donate them to her daughter’s school, where students often make signs for events.
School Committee member Sandeep Pisharody said he gave his 2025 posters to parent-teacher groups. Middle school PTG co-President Adrienne Principe said volunteers will similarly repaint the signs “and encourage students to write messages” for their teachers. The PTG will place the repurposed signs around the Ellen Garrison Building at Acton Middle School during Teacher Appreciation Week in May.
Select Board Chair Mark Howell said he donated his signs to the West Acton-based non-profit Art for All, which used them for community projects.
School Committee member Michael Williams said the same volunteers who delivered his posters collected them last spring. A few supporters returned their signs, which sit in storage.
Andrea Solomon, who is aiding Drew Magliozzi in his uncontested 2026 School Committee bid, said signs serve a purpose even when a candidate is unopposed.
“People should still know to vote,” she said.
‘All the plastic’
Sven Weber helped lead Select Board member Mary Hartman’s 2025 reelection campaign but was less than enthusiastic about yard signs when asked last month. He considered the displays a necessary evil as competitors erected their own.
“It’s just a waste,” he said of “all the plastic.”
While some might take issue with signs, Concordian Sue LaChance said it would be a “slippery slope” for the town to restrict them.
Resident Cynthia Katz said she’s more concerned about the aesthetics of sandwich board posters around town. “There’s probably other hills I would die on,” she told The Bridge before a February 25 Select Board meeting.
Banfield said the recent blizzard delayed his shipment, but he had signs in hand as of February 27 and “we will be coming up with a rollout plan.”
Hiersteiner said he expected to get his signs this past week and would similarly work on distributing them around town.
