Yard signs beach blanket bingo.

Last night at the NAHA forum, I asked incumbent at-large councilperson Shirley Baird (D) whether it was legal to plant political yard signs in the road verge, which is the (usually) grassy area between sidewalk and street.

"No, it isn't. But try telling that to my husband."

Think about this as the scene shifts to the corner of Bank and Main.

You'll recall that after a crazed ragpicker posing as a city employee made terroristic threats to a downtown shopkeeper about a Baylor for Mayor sign in the treet well by her store, she laughed out loud and declined to remove it.

The county clerk then called to inform me that a complaint had been made, and eventually the sign was forcibly uprooted, presumably by the street department.

Fine.

But doesn't the same standard apply to Al Knable's sign on the verge a couple blocks east on Main?

Or, is the offense illegal only when someone like Dan Coffey complains  about it?

What of this sign on Plaza Drive?

CM Blair owns the property, but who governs the verge? Me thinks it's the city, and as Blair's colleague readily acknowledges, it's illegal to plant a sign there.

True, I don't care all that much about yard signs ... but incompetent and inefficient ordinance enforcement is the bane of the city.

Consistency, anyone?