(October 23)  Politics in the City of Gracious Living have proven less than gracious in the last fortnight. With eight candidates vying for three positions on the Upland City Council, determination, emotions, and tempers have run high, and the competition between the parties, seven of whom are running spirited campaigns, has been pitched.
As is typical in any electoral season, signs touting the various candidacies are visible all over the 15.6 square mile city of 73,732, having sprouted along the roadway vistas and intersections like toadstools at the base of a tree in a thick-growth forest after a spring rain.
A rash of vandalism to and theft of the signs has taken place over the last few weeks, with that activity intensifying in recent days.
At least three of incumbent councilman Gino Filippi’s signs, which were in prominent spots along Euclid Avenue last week, have gone missing.
Susan Berk, whose campaign has used a mix of four-foot by four-foot signs on heavy wood bases as well as smaller yard signs, was hit with the theft or destruction of ten of its signs around the city early this week.
Bill Schuessler told the Sentinel on Tuesday that nine or ten of his signs were removed, destroyed or taken early this week.
The candidate most heavily hectored by the sign thefts was Rod McAuliffe, who reported on Monday that nearly  50 of his signs had been removed or destroyed.
Reports of the thefts have been made to the police department in at least two of the cases, the Sentinel is informed.
Moreover, a private security camera in a residential neighborhood caught moving images of the removal of one of Schuessler’s signs.
Schuessler said that theft occurred sometime between 1 a.m. and 2 a.m. in the morning of October 20. The perpetrator appears to be a young male,   Schuessler said. The video shows him taking the sign and placing it in a vehicle, Schuessler said. The video is clear enough for the make and model of the car to be discerned, Shuessler said.
Shuessler said the video has been provided to a forensic analyst capable of enhancing the images on the video even further.