State police cite former Jeannette mayoral candidate for attaching signs to utility poles

It’s hard to miss them on a drive around Jeannette — the yellow signs with black lettering seem to be everywhere.

But the signs’ campaign-related message is about 50 days beyond relevance, and, according to state police, a potential danger from the dozens of metal tacks and staples used to affix each sign on utility poles.

That’s why troopers cited former mayoral candidate Ed Day, 61, of Jeannette with violating a state law that prohibits the driving of a nail, tack or metal or hard substance into a public utility pole. Police recently counted at least 31 signs proclaiming “Ed Day for Mayor: A New Beginning for a Great Town Working Together as One!” in Jeannette and Hempfield.

Day lost the Republican primary May 20.

Trooper Steve Limani said Day was given a chance to take the signs down before being cited, but was uncooperative and used derogatory language in a conversation with a state police corporal. There are far more than the 31 signs seen by the corporal during a brief canvas of town, but only one summary nontraffic citation was filed.

“Every one of these is a different act,” Limani said.

Day could be subject to an arrest warrant if he doesn’t respond to the citation, which was filed Sunday, within a certain time period. Court records indicated the citation had yet to be mailed to him Friday. A summary trial had not been scheduled.

Day insisted on Friday in a conversation with the Trib that he hadn’t broken any law, describing the 68 signs he put up as “paper plastic signs” that were affixed to poles, some with tape and some with staples.

“I used no tacks, I used no nails,” he said.

He said he planned to remove 55 of the signs in the coming days. He hadn’t decided what to do with the remaining 13.

“I’m going to take some down because I’m in the spirit of trying to get along,” he said.

Day believes that any person or municipality that has signs on utility poles, including stop signs and speed limits, should face similar court action. Traffic and similar signs are exempt under the law when a municipality has permission from the pole’s owner or when authorized by statute.

The matter was referred to state police by city officials after receiving complaints from residents about signs on utility poles, according to the citation. Limani said the metal tacks and staples holding up Day’s campaign signs pose a danger to those who work on the utility poles, which are owned by FirstEnergy and West Penn Power.

Spokesperson Todd Meyers said there are 500,000 wooden utility poles in West Penn’s service area. Workers will remove any type of sign from them if they get complaints or see a sign in an unsafe area, he said.

“Although seemingly innocent, putting signs or other items on utility poles creates serious safety hazards for our employees and the public,” Meyers said. “Nails, staples or other fasteners used to attach these objects to poles can be dangerous to workers who must climb these poles to repair or maintain our equipment.”

That means potential damage to protective gear that keeps workers safe when they’re working with high-voltage electrical equipment, Meyers said. A person hanging a sign on a utility pole also can be at risk of making accidental contact with power lines.

Day got 105 votes in the May primary, coming in third on the Republican ticket, according to election results.

He initially was thrown off the ballot in March after a successful challenge in Westmoreland County court by opponent and incumbent Curtis Antoniak, who claimed Day failed to file a required statement of financial interest with the city.

A state appeals court decision two weeks before the May 20 primary reinstated Day’s name to the ballot. The appeals court ruled Antoniak failed to produce adequate evidence to counter Day’s contention Jeannette did not properly appoint the city manager or another person to accept the required financial document.

The ruling left Westmoreland County election officials scrambling to reprogram voting machines and send more than 100 new mail-in ballots to Jeannette’s Republican voters.