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Pro-3B signs disappear in New Castle

Carrie Click
Post Independent Staff

NEW CASTLE ” About 20 lawn signs in favor of Garfield School District Re-2’s mill levy override recently disappeared from front yards in downtown New Castle and the Castle Valley subdivision.

The 3B ballot question, which will be decided Tuesday, Nov. 4, authorizes the Re-2 school district to add a $4 million-per-year property tax onto residential and commercial property in the district. The election has become a hotly debated issue this fall.

Nancy Jacobsen heads up Citizens for Common Sense, the group opposed to 3B, which she said has less than 10 people.” You’re wasting your time on this itty-bitty story. It’s hilarious. It isn’t even a story,” she said.



Anne Guettler, chairperson of the mill levy override committee that supports 3B, agrees that the sign-stealing is kind of ridiculous.

“It is a bit humorous, but it’s also sad. It makes everybody uncomfortable and unhappy,” she said. “As this election is winding down, it’s unfortunate we’re dealing with those kind of tactics. If you’re opposed to the override, vote ‘no.'”



Guettler said unknown people took the signs on the evening of Thursday, Oct. 23, at around 9:30 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 25, and at about 8:30 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 26. She said she has witness reports on all three nights of a light-colored van circling New Castle’s old-town residential area and Castle Valley’s neighborhoods, stopping and removing the signs from yards.

“We have a description of the van and part of the license plate number,” Guettler said.

Guettler said what’s also troubling her is that the signs were taken from private property.

“This is a simple school election that’s getting out of control,” Guettler said. “It makes people reluctant to put signs out.”

Jacobsen said she knows nothing about the sign stealing.

“The first I heard of this was at the school board’s Tuesday night board meeting,” said Jacobsen. “After the meeting, the school board president Vicky VanEngelenburg approached me and asked if I knew anything about the signs being removed. Should I take offense to that? The fact that she asked me that is outrageous.

“Of course I know nothing about the signs,” Jacobsen continued. “OK, my politically correct statement is this: The Citizens for Common Sense abhor such actions and certainly do not support such activity. Besides, we’ve had reports of some of our signs disappearing at Apple Tree (mobile-home park outside New Castle).”

Jacobsen said she thinks she knows what happened to the pro-3B signs.

“The answer is: Kids pulling pranks took the signs,” Jacobsen said.

Guettler disagrees.

“This was not a bunch of juveniles,” she said. “They didn’t just kick down the signs and run away. They cased these neighborhoods and methodically removed those signs.”

Jacobsen said she doesn’t think much of political signs.

“Signs are a huge waste of money anyway,” Jacobsen said. “They’re terribly ineffective in an election, and have little or no effect on the outcome.”

Contact Carrie Click: 945-8515, ext. 518

cclick@postindependent.com


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