Best alleges lawn sign stolen

Republican congressional candidate Bruce Best, who's running against Rahm Emanuel in the 5th district on Chicago's North/Northwest Side, claims a city worker removed a Best for Congress campaign sign. While there is no hard evidence of any crime being committed, if it is true, it wouldn't surprise me one bit. Here's the full text of the e-mail I received, written by Best: A City of Chicago employee stole the BRUCE BEST (for Congress) yard sign from the front yard of BRUCE BEST who is running for the United States Congress in the 5th Congressional District. On October 14, 2004 at 1:10 PM, a City of Chicago employee drove up to the personal residence of BRUCE BEST. The City of Chicago employee drove up in a blue SUV with the City of Chicago logo on the side of the SUV. The logo said, “Streets and Sanitation”, “City of Chicago”. The City of Chicago employee was being paid by taxpayers to do (only) city work at the time of the theft. The City of Chicago employee approached the personal residence of BRUCE BEST and rang the doorbell three times and pounded impatiently on the big wooden gate near the front door. “I thought he (the city of Chicago employee) was up to no good,” said Bruce Best who watched from inside the house, “so I did not answer the door, and I just watched. My first yard sign was previously stolen by the opposition. Most of my yard signs throughout the neighborhood were stolen by the opposition who OPPOSES this form of freedom of speech for OUR side. The opposition’s biggest fear is that the people hear our message – please visit www.brucebest.com to read about our goals for the people. The yard sign (that was stolen on October 14) was securely tied to prickly bushes in the front yard, so if the opposition tried to steal it again, they would have a tough time.” Eventually the City of Chicago employee concluded that no one was home. He illegally leaned into the big prickly bushes, grabbed the BRUCE BEST yard sign with two hands, and violently RIPPED the sign from it’s strong nylon rope restraints. The City of Chicago employee who stole the BRUCE BEST yard sign was approximately 5 foot 10 and a half inches tall, had salt and pepper hair, was approximately 205 pounds. Age is estimated in the late forties. He looked like Italian American descent, and he had a sagging chin. A police report has been filed # HK-686475. Police and the Inspector General’s office are investigating. The opposition should CALL OFF the use of City of Chicago employees to do illegal acts. Now, this account makes a lot of assumptions -- that the person was a city employee, that he was on city time and that the police are investigating, the latter being the most implausible. I responded that it would have been a much better story if he had recorded the incident on camera, gotten a plate number or confronted the person. Next time!