Campaign signs sliced, destroyed, alleges Wilmette School District 39 candidate
A relatively quiet Wilmette School District 39 campaign hit a bump in the last 48 hours before the April 7 election, when one school board candidate said she discovered her campaign signs stolen or vandalized in locations across the district.
Tracy Kearney, who is running for one of the three open seats on the elementary district’s board, said April 6 that she and her family discovered the losses and damages on April 5. They discovered signs removed from in front of Central and McKenzie elementary schools, and from in front of Wilmette Junior High School, Kearney said.
Kearney said some signs were sliced into two or three pieces and left lying on the ground at Highcrest Middle School and at the Centennial Park recreation complex, an early voting site. In some cases, pieces of the signs were completely removed, preventing Kearney and her supporters from taping the signs back together, she said.
Kearney filed an incident report with Wilmette police as a matter of public record, she said. She added that she didn’t know who took the signs or who might have sliced up those that were vandalized.
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“I’m just disappointed to see it happen. Everyone has the right to run,” she said. “I’ve been nothing but a supporter for District 39.”
Wilmette resident Lisa Finks said she spotted the vandalized signs at Centennial Park, and also saw evidence of vandalism at Highcrest.
“Honestly, I found it kind of shocking,” said Finks, who is a Kearney supporter.
Wilmette Police Chief Brian King said fewer incidents of sign stealing or vandalism were reported during this campaign than in previous election cycles.
“It’s a rather sophisticated community, so we don’t get that sort of thing very often,” he said.
King added that it is difficult to file charges in connection with such incidents, unless someone is caught in the act of stealing or destroying signs.
Twitter: @pioneer_kathy