Jenni Carthcart has learned firsthand why an election campaign period is often referred to as “the silly season.”
One of four Town Ward candidates seeking election to city council this October, Cathcart has been left upset and disappointed following the theft on Monday (July 20) of three of her election lawn signs — including a sign on the lawn of her own Homewood Avenue home.
According to Carthcart, between 1 and 2 p.m., two neighbours, a woman and her daughter, witnessed a woman “who appeared to be between 65 and 75 (years old)” driving a silver Hyundai SUV “pick up my campaign signs, put them in her vehicle, and leave.”
“They thought ‘That’s odd. Maybe Jenni knows her and she promised this person her sign or something’,” Cathcart says. “They mentioned it to me today (Tuesday) and I noticed all of the signs on my street had been taken … a row of three signs, including mine.”
“I kind of expect that teenagers might play a prank and move signs, or take them or whatever. That’s just part of the normal world. It’s odd to me that it was an older woman in a nice car who, in the middle of the day, drove to my house as well as some of my neighbours, and took my signs.”
“It’s very brazen and disrespectful to drive up to my house and take my sign. It’s pretty nervy, especially in the middle of the day.”
More than anything, Catchcart says sign theft undermines the integrity of the democratic process that’s at the heart of the elections, be they at the municipal, provincial or federal level.
“Part of campaign strategy is getting your name out there via signs,” says Cathcart, a first-time election candidate seeking election in Town Ward alongside the two incumbents, Joy Lachica and Alex Bierk, and Jessica Kuhlmorgen-Hille. Two ward seats will be up for grabs on October 26.
“The removal of my signs feels, in a way, like my election is being tampered with that I’m being silenced,” Cathcart adds. “That comes in opposition to what the democratic process is about. It’s about a free exchange of ideas and voters making a choice on who they think will best represent their perspective.”
Cathcart says she has close to 30 election signs placed to date. Predominately white with blue and green lettering, her signs feature curved blue and green lines.
“I gave a lot of thought to the sign colours because I wanted to be centrist, and a candidate that is really focused on the Town Ward and all of its constituents as opposed to trying to represent a party,” she says.
Cathcart makes it clear she’s in no way associating the theft of her signs, which she has reported to the police, with any one of her election opponents or any one of their supporters.
“I’m not casting a bad light on anyone or tying it to anyone,” she says.
“I’m saying that this is clearly an adult who drove by very specifically and took campaign signs from a specific candidate from her yard, and that’s where it just feels yucky. This person doesn’t need to vote for me. At the same time, it’s not OK to take away my signs. It’s theft.”
Cathcart isn’t buying the notion that the incident was to be expected in what is a generally more inflamed political climate that’s getting hotter with each passing day.
“My campaign signs were on a residential street in my own neighbourhood,” she says.
“The neighbours who reached out and asked for a sign did so to show their support of me and my campaign. When someone goes into a little neighbourhood and takes signs, and directly from a candidate’s home, it feels more personal and more targeted than if they had taken a sign from the corner of Lansdowne (Street) and Monaghan (Road). It makes we wonder ‘What’s next?'”
On that note, Catchart says “within hours” of launching her campaign, “the first attacks came on social media,” calling them “just disrespectful.”
Her stolen lawns signs and online attacks aside, Cathcart says campaigning has been a positive experience that has seen her start canvassing door-to-door as well as meet with the One City team at Trinity.
“What I’ve heard most frequently is they (residents she’s met) have never seen the downtown this bad before,” she says.
“A number have said they used to go downtown frequently. They want to shop there, they want to go to restaurants, but they’re nervous to do so. They’re avoiding downtown, or going at very specific times of the day.”
“I’ve talked to a lot of neighbours who have experienced theft or vandalism, both homeowners and businesses downtown, and their frustration with that being an ongoing issue. Those are the things most on the minds of people I’ve spoken with.”
As noted on her election website, Cathcart’s priorities are “a downtown we’re proud to support, a safe and welcoming downtown and affordable housing steps from downtown.”
“I’m doing a lot of listening, a lot of learning and lot of reading,” she says, adding “I really want to understand the issues from a lot of different perspectives.”
