Following the primary election, the days after are a wonderful respite from a Higgins Lake landscape peppered with candidate and issue signs. It seems that the recent years have caused the disfigurement of nature as lake advocacy, sewer, water level and other special messages never let up. What used to be a seasonal phenomenon never seems to abate anymore.
The sudden post-election evaporation of most signs in the area is a pleasant relief from the nonstop planting of all these messages which are hard to escape and are never out of sight. If you also feel a sigh of relief, as I do, maybe we can come together as a community and take a year or more off from this sign marathon, which seemed to begin in earnest with the 2016 election. Maybe choosing this route could catch on permanently.
Have something to say? How about sharing your thoughts online or in the print version of the local media? Have your own in-person hall meeting and engage an issue in a more meaningful way. Or get a T shirt instead? If we really value the lake and want to find constructive ways of getting along more amicably, we should give this a try. Let’s take a new approach to dealing with local and political causes and candidates by getting back to what used to be the norm –- neighborhoods free of visual litter for most of the year.
A sign-splattered community seems to be mostly serving the cause of making people agitated and partisan. I recall when most people were content with keeping their political opinions to themselves or to a shorter period prior to an election.
Let’s all try to curb our enthusiasm for making all our opinions and preferences a blight on what we are all here for…a relaxing family atmosphere. Would it be too much of an infringement on our free speech rights to voluntarily limit these campaigns to one month before an election? I don’t think so.
This notion is purely aspirational and seems like a small price to pay for beautifying the community for both seasonal and permanent residents.
Phillip Robinson
Higgins Lake
