by J. Brooks Terry
Staff Writer
Like it or not, they’re hard to miss no matter where you go. Signs remain the most easily identifiable piece of the marketing machine behind a political run for office, and as Dist. 5 candidates Art Shad and Jay Jabour maintain, you can’t campaign without them.
“Signs serve one true purpose,” said Shad. “They give legitimacy to a campaign, especially in the early stages. When there were seven candidates in this race, they were much more vital than they are now just in terms of name recognition. They open doors.”
Despite a depreciation in value as the election season winds down, Shad and Jabour said they will continue to distribute their signs until the last opportunity has presented itself.
“We still get calls requesting our signs,” said Jabour. “And we’ll put them out until the last day.”
Shad said potential voters ask for his signs two or three times daily.
“We put out 35 more on a walk this past weekend,” he said.
But before a single sign can be planted in a front yard or plastered across a store window, a candidate must do one thing: have their sign designed, printed and assembled.
“When you design your sign,” said Jabour, “you really want it to represent you. I worked with a graphic artist and we came up with something that I was comfortable with. Personally, I like red, white and blue because I feel that it is both patriotic and political so I really didn’t have to spend very much time on it. You just have to ask yourself, ‘Is this right for me?’ ”
Shad collaborated with a “graphically gifted” friend in drafting a design, while paying little mind to what the other candidates were concocting.
“You can’t really worry about that,” he said. “You just have to focus on your own stuff. My opponent has done some interesting things, but I’m happy with what he have.”
Once the artwork is complete, the candidate must be sure that it meets the standard criteria required by local ordinances or they will have wasted a large amount of money on signs that will never legally see the light of day.
“You need three things,” said Shad. “You have to include the word ‘elect,’ the office you’re running for and you need to put a disclaimer explaining that it is a paid political advertisement.”
Following a relatively short turn around time — roughly a week — the unassembled signs are returned to the candidates where volunteers take on the task of putting them together. From there, it’s all about showing them off to the voting public. According to the Department of Public Works, residential lots are allowed only one four square-foot sign per candidate.
“The rules are broken repeatedly by many candidates,” said Shad. “But we’ve done our best to make sure that we conform to Jacksonville’s sign ordinances.”
Whether or not they’re breaking rules, Jabour and Shad estimate they have both distributed close to 1,500 signs while campaigning.
“It’s important to understand, though, that signs alone are only one piece of the puzzle,” said Jabour. “It’s not even the most important piece; your message is. Signs are good because they show the momentum and support behind your campaign, but you still have to consider all of the houses that don’t have any signs in the yard. Those are votes, too.”
Shad agreed.
“Signs don’t guarantee a vote,” he said. “You’d be amazed at the number of households that have signs in the front yard but never vote or aren’t even registered.”
And once the final votes have been counted Tuesday, Jabour and Shad said they plan to take down their respective signs in a fraction of the time it took to put them up: the following day.
“When it’s over,” said Jabour, “I’m sure the last thing anyone wants to see is your signs all over the place.”
Whether or not the proliferation of flashy signs can guarantee an office at City Hall, it’s a safe assumption their popularity is far from waning.
“I don’t think you’ll find many elected politicians who campaigned without signs,” said Shad. “Despite carrying no message, they’re something people have come to expect. But when you consider all of the time, money and effort that goes into them, I’d welcome a race without signs.”