Letter: I never liked 'gentlemen's agreement'

Posted 9/3/18

To the editor:

I was amused to see myself quoted in the Aug. 29 Barrington Times regarding yard signs. The quote suggested that I was interested in abiding by the so-called …

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Letter: I never liked 'gentlemen's agreement'

Posted

To the editor:

I was amused to see myself quoted in the Aug. 29 Barrington Times regarding yard signs. The quote suggested that I was interested in abiding by the so-called “gentleman’s agreement.” That is not at all the case. Had Mr. Bickford searched a bit further back in the archives, he would have discovered a Nov. 2008 letter from me challenging that very agreement. 

That letter was in reaction to a resident’s claim that Barrington was somehow more refined that its neighbors because of the agreement. It reads in part:

“[The author’s] comments about our neighboring communities unfortunately imply the kind of snobbishness that has not served Barrington well in the media or in eyes of our neighbors.  While we tolerate a plethora of yard signs year round advertising our preferences in contractors, painters, lawn services, roofers, pool installers, and real estate agents, we somehow find it distasteful to display our political preferences for a month or so every two years. 

How, I wonder, is our endorsement of these businesses any more respectable than an open acknowledgment of our favored candidates?

In fact, these political signs serve essentially the same purpose as commercial yard signs [in that] they provide cues as to the candidate preferences of the homeowner, and signal to his or her friends or colleagues that the candidate in question has earned the respect and trust of the homeowner, and comes recommended by that homeowner.     

…Some voters look to thirty-second ads, others to celebrity endorsements, others to the editorial pages of their local papers, and still others to the recommendations of their neighbors as expressed in yard signs, bumper stickers, or buttons and badges. 

As a candidate, I have abided by the so-called gentlemen’s agreement not to display yard signs….but I don’t like it. The open expression of one’s political preferences is an important part of democratic discourse. It is not visual pollution. It is not beneath us. Competitive elections and honest, civil disagreements are the stuff of a healthy political system. We should do as our fine neighboring communities do: embrace this form of expression, not be ashamed by it.”

Candidate Chung is, of course, free to abide by a decades-old, unwritten, and unconstitutional agreement among unidentified “gentlemen” to eschew yard signs, but Candidate Cassar and her supporters are also free to embrace this vibrant, colorful, positive expression of political engagement.

June Speakman

Warren

Ms. Speakman was a member of the Barrington Town Council from 2002 to 2016.

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