Moscoe Is At It Again

And it is his flippant attitude towards voters and his arrogance that drives my Anyone But Moscoe campaign.

Election Sign Flap Angers Residents In North York

Thursday October 19, 2006

If it didn't look like there was an election going on in Toronto before, it sure does now.

When the clock struck midnight Thursday, candidates in the race to get to City Hall were legally allowed to put up their election signs for the first time.

But some eager politicians jumped the gun. And a few went even farther than that.

Constituents in Howard Moscoe's North York riding woke up in the morning to find his signs plastered all over their lawns. The problem? Most of them didn't get asked if he could put them there.

"I woke up this morning as I was leaving for work. It was right there," complains Nea Peralta, who lives near the Yorkdale subway. "And I thought that was strange because from between 7pm last night and this morning, we didn't receive any phone calls."

Other residents found the same nasty surprise waiting for them when the sun came up. And many were so angry, they immediately tore them down.

What happened? It turns out Moscoe's office took an old page out of the cable company's book and tried to use a sort of negative billing option, sending a letter to residents telling them if they didn't want a sign, they should let his office know.

Most people weren't even aware of it and were less than pleased when they learned about the idea. "It's like getting something in the post and saying, you know, if you want us to deliver this grand piano, then let us know," laments Maureen McCreight. "Otherwise we'll deliver a grand piano. That's just not on."

Moscoe is nonplussed by the revelation. "We have been doing it for years," he notes. "Out of 12,000 signs, we had 30 calls."

But it wasn't just the morning residents who were surprised by the Moscoe signs. One North York resident was out walking his dog around 10pm and saw they'd sprouted all over the neighbourhood - at least two hours before they were permitted to be there.

Moscoe's response? "I don't put up the signs."

That does little to placate Peralta, one of the many who have thrown hers away. "It's sort of disrespectful in some form because he should have asked our permission first, so it's sort of like intruding," she concludes.

The city's Municipal License and Standards division is investigating the sign snafu.