by Susan Lang
Shelly Fularon Wood is running for Commonwealth Attorney in Chesapeake. She has handled more than 2,700 criminal cases in Virginia. She has experience working in the Norfolk Prosecutor’s office and was appointed by Chesapeake Circuit Court Judges to serve as a Substitute Judge. Despite these tremendous credentials, or maybe because of them, someone has been removing her campaign signs.
Wood has a system for recording where and when her signs are placed. She has determined that more than 200 have been stolen — so far.
A Facebook post claiming to be part of the City Sign Sweeper program shows what happened to many of the stolen Shelly Wood signs. The Sign Sweeper program does not cover removal of political signs. It is furthermore an incorrect application of the program to take signs of one candidate for an office but not the other’s signs. This individual was contacted; he said the signs had been destroyed.
While stealing a sign may seem like no big deal, Virginia authorities take the crime very seriously. In Virginia, stealing a political sign can be charged as petit larceny, a Class I misdemeanor. This could result in a $2,500 fine and up to one year in jail.
The charges are determined by what type of property was stolen and the value of the property. Petit theft typically refers to minor crimes involving property of modest value. Grand theft, which is a felony, involves stolen property of at least $1,000 value. § 18.2-95. Grand larceny is punishable with higher fines and potentially more jail time than.
Each medium size 4’x4′ sign cost this candidate $45. information obtained from purchase orders. Each “Barn Sign” cost this candidate $80; yard signs cost less, but the large quantity of stolen signs makes the total value large.
Corrie Cring is running for Treasurer in Chesapeake; she has 8 years of experience managing aspects of that office. John Cring is Corrie Cring’s husband and campaign manager. He has placed more than 1,000 signs throughout Chesapeake in support of 
his wife’s campaign for City Treasurer. As a former volunteer for the Chesapeake Sign Sweeper program, he knows the rules. He was specifically instructed never to touch political signage; it was illegal to do so. Cring also says an improperly installed sign poses a safety risk to drivers if it becomes loose and is blown into the road.
As someone intimately aware of the Chesapeake rules on sign placement, Cring says he takes great care in installing Corrie Cring’s signs. Cring reports over two hundred of their 18″ x 24″ yard signs have been stolen. Twice so far, companies who own property at major intersections have illegally removed or destroyed Cring’s large format 4′ x 8′ signage.
The outcome at one location is a happy ending; the management at Lowe’s on Battlefield Blvd has followed proper guidelines on a replacement sign install. At the other location, it was a sour story. Cring has a voice recording of the owner at this location railing at him, stating he isn’t sorry for tearing down the signs and that he doesn’t care about the city’s sign policies. One problem reported to Cring is that people have been calling stores with their signs in front of them and complaining that the stores are endorsing her, when in fact a sign is simply placed in the right-of-way. Merchants may remember that people of all political stripes shop. Cring has his name and number on all large signs to call if they need to be moved and was not contacted in either incident.
Property owners who maintain property up to the curb should understand public easements and that it is illegal to remove political signage from them. Links to official Chesapeake Sign Sweeper policies and procedures can be found below.
David Washington, Chesapeake Democratic Committee Chair, has observed the destruction of candidate signs in Chesapeake for many years now. This year, it seems particularly brazen.
As an example of selective “enforcement” of the Sign Sweepers, the sign above was placed improperly in a median and has been there for over a month. There are a great many examples of inconsistent ‘collection and destruction’ of campaign signs in Chesapeake.
The competitor’s signage was placed 10 feet in front of the Shelly Wood campaign barn sign effectively blocking it from view until passing his sign. There are multiple examples of this tactic around the city.
Even as recently as October 27, Dominion Lakes resident Jeremy Rodden reported illegal sign destruction and removal at the entrance to Dominion Lakes at Dominion Lakes Blvd and Dominion Blvd. As seen in the pictures below, Shelly Fularon Wood’s sign was thrown into a ditch and the zip-ties on the large sign for Terry McAuliffe were quite clearly cut. All signs for the Republican candidates were untouched.
Susan Lang is a Democratic Party activist in the City of Chesapeake.
Official information on the City of Chesapeake Public Works Sign Sweeper program can be found here.
The City of Chesapeake Sign Brochure for temporary signage can be found here.
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