Disappearing Signs Irk Yorktown Town Justice Candidate
A first-time candidate seeking a seat in Yorktown Town Court is looking for justice in the disappearance of approximately 100 campaign signs throughout town.
Richard Abbate, a Democrat who is challenging incumbent Republican Gary Raniolo on November 3, filed a complaint with Yorktown Police on September 16 after several signs he had placed in the downtown Heights area at businesses where he had received prior permission were stolen.
Abbate believes petty politics may be at play, and while he is not pointing any fingers, he stressed he will look to prosecute those responsible for the theft of his $2 apiece signs if they are caught red handed.
“It’s so juvenile,” Abbate said. “At first we thought it was some kids fooling around. Now it seems to be pretty systematic. It’s the wrong thing to do. It’s become my morning routine to drive around and replace signs.”
Being a newcomer to politics and running against a sitting judge, Abbate maintained the signs serve an important purpose in getting his name out.
“It’s very limited what you can discuss as a judicial candidate. A lot of it is name recognition,” he said. “I got into this for the right reasons. I want to help the community. I think I would do a really good job as judge. I think I have the right temperament. I didn’t realize my signs would be missing. I guess I’m a newbie to the whole process. Apparently it’s business as usual.”
However, according to Yorktown Code Enforcement Officer Jason Zeif, Abbate has been one of the worst offenders of the town’s loosely enforced ordinances regarding campaign signs, which are not allowed on “any obvious public areas.”
Zeif conceded he has never issued a summons for political signs, only verbal warnings, and said he had personally removed a few of Abbate signs after receiving “numerous calls, probably eight to 10” from business owners and merchants complaining about Abbate’s signs.
“He seems to think wherever Judge Raniolo’s sign is he could put one of his,” said Reif, who noted many of Abbate’s signs were illegally placed along routes 202 and 35. “He may be confused. If it appears to be a private property we don’t deal with it.”
“I don’t see anything particularly unusual happening this year,” Zeif added. “It’s really high school child’s play stuff that goes on this time of year. I’m very busy. I’m more concerned about quality of life issues.”
Rick has more than 40 years’ experience covering local news in Westchester and Putnam counties, running the gamut from politics and crime to sports and human interest. He has been an editor at Examiner Media since 2012. Read more from Rick’s editor-author bio here. Read Rick’s work here: https://www.theexaminernews.com/author/pezzullo_rick-writer/