Temporary signs. They are as ugly as weeds that sprout up in a garden overnight.

Despite Picayune city ordinances that preclude their presence along the roadside, they continue to rear their ugly plastic facades, standing on legs of cheap metal. Their appearance is a constant annoyance that further degrades the beauty that could be Picayune’s thoroughfares.

Picayune’s city council enacted ordinances some years back that were supposed to cut down and even eliminate their presence like Roundup. But the allure of cheap advertising must be too much to dissuade their purchase.

Election season is especially bad; the growing season for the temporary sign.

So what is to be done about temporary signs?

Would it be feasible to hire and pay a dedicated city or county employee to ride around “pulling weeds”? Obviously not. It would be a waste of already taxed tax dollars.

Should citizens take it upon themselves to pull these unsightly signs from the roadside? That would cause an obvious safety hazard for the person involved, and could potentially create a conflict during election season.

Current city employees have more pressing matters to tend to than riding around all day pulling up “weeds”. They have leaking pipes to fix, potholes to fill and other maintenance work to complete that ensures the city’s infrastructure remains operational. Police officers and other emergency personnel have more pressing tasks to tend to as well, such as crimes, fires and accidents.

In the end there may not be one solution to rectify the problem. Taking information from the signs will identify who placed them there, but that leads back to law enforcement already having a heavy workload.

If a business, event coordinator or politician wants to advertise there are much more effective, visually appealing and legal ways to do so.