98 Days To Go: Signs and Rumors

Rumors are funny things.

You ignore them, and they'll grow and possibly cause problems with those who can't feel bothered to verify what they hear before they accept it as truth. You take them too seriously, and then people will accept them as truth irregardless of their veracity. Either way, i've found that you can't let them rule your actions under any circumstances or it'll just drive you mad.

So, I was a little stunned a few weeks ago when I had heard I was breaking the law in regards to lawn signs.

Before 2004, RSA 664:17, New Hampshire's state law on lawn signs, said that you couldn't put them out before the last Friday in July. In 2004, that law was challenged in court, the court found that telling people that they couldn't put up signs before a certain date was unconstitutional, and then in 2006 the legislature passed HB 349, a bill that removed the the last Friday in July provision from RSA 664:17.

So now you can put up lawn signs at any time, provided they are on state owned rights of way or private property. Here in Merrimack, the zoning ordinance regarding signs on town owned rights of way isn't enforced, so it's a judgment call for the most part on where to put signs.

The rumor about me breaking this law that had been repealed a few years ago probably wasn't a big deal in the first place, but I figured it was a big enough of a deal to mention and clarify.

Not sure otherwise about the rumor though, so far i'm the only candidate in Merrimack who has any signs up other than two candidates for Registrar of Deeds.