Neighbors with differing political views find they still can act neighborly

Despite her lone Joe Biden sign in a street filled with Donald Trump signs, Suzanne Nace knows there’s no animosity between her and her neighbors.

“You have your beliefs; we have our beliefs,” said Nace, 51, of Glenview Avenue in Greensburg.

In neighborhoods across Westmoreland County, differing political views are depicted through yard signs, plastered on billboards and placed on the side of roads.

They come in the form of “Pro-life, pro-Trump,” “Black Lives Matter,” “Back the Blue,” or in the more traditional slogans, “Trump, the law and order president” and simple “Biden-Harris” signs.

As political tensions flare across the country, and some people prepare for the possibility of protests following the election, neighbors are working to keep the peace despite differing opinions.

“Politics isn’t the only thing that we deal with in society and in life in general,” Nicole Veltre said. “Just because you have a different political view doesn’t mean that you as a person are a bad person. We all have our differences, and we have different needs that we need met, we all have different expectations.”

Veltre, 46, who lives on Peachtree Lane in North Huntingdon, has two Trump signs in her yard and another supporting police officers. She said she recently changed her political affiliation from Democrat to Republican, noting that she does not like everything Democrats stand for and that she appreciates Trump standing up for the country.

Her neighbor, however, seemingly has different opinions, expressed through their Biden sign placed in their yard. Still, Veltre said, they get along.

“If you’re a good, genuine person, and you treat me with respect and you treat our neighborhood with respect and everything, I have no issues with what your political (opinions are),” she said. “You have your own views.”

Jane Southern, 70, lives on Julius Street in North Huntingdon. She said that her neighbors all get along despite the mixture of Trump and Biden signs that fill the street.

The same goes for Danielle Sackandy, who lives on Oak Street in Latrobe. Sackandy, who has a “Steelworkers for Biden” sign in her yard, said she is friendly with her neighbors, who have displayed a Trump banner on their front porch.

Several neighboring homes display alternating signs supporting the Biden or Trump campaigns.

Sackandy, 30, who is a Democrat, would have preferred to have Bernie Sanders running against Trump.

But, she said, “I do like Biden. He was the vice president, so I think he has a lot of experience.”

Despite their differing views for the upcoming election, she said neighbors on the street get along.

She noted she has friends who are Trump supporters and her 5-year-old daughter plays with the young son of her immediate neighbors, who have a Trump banner displayed on their porch.

“They’re good people,” she said. “We can have our own opinions. “There’s no reason to lose a friend over politics.”

Three doors away, Dale McNutt, 75, says he put up his Trump yard sign before others on the street set up signs for Biden.

“It doesn’t bother me,” he said of the opposing signs.

A Democrat, McNutt said he liked John F. Kennedy and Bill Clinton but is disenchanted with most current Democratic politicians.

“I’m not switching parties, but I’m not voting Democrat,” he said.

Back on Peachtree Lane in North Huntingdon, however, not all of the neighbors get along.

John Russo, who lives down the street from Veltre, said he has had some issues since he put up his Trump sign. According to Russo, 67, he received an anonymous letter saying the sign was ruining the neighborhood.

He decided to keep the Trump sign up to show his support. “It’s hard anymore,” Russo said. “The country’s very divided, nobody comes to the middle. I used to consider myself a moderate. There’s hardly any moderates anymore. Everybody’s right and left, polarized. … It’s terrible.”

To keep the peace between family members and friends who have differing opinions, Russo said he’s realized there are times when the conversation should not gravitate toward politics.

For Southern, keeping the peace boils down to realizing that life goes on after the election.

“Once the election’s over, whether you win or lose,” she said, “you still have your neighbors.”