Council candidate David Gleason at transfer station.

Interviewed at the transfer station this morning about his use of the Portsmouth 375 logo in his campaign signs, Town Council candidate David Gleason defended his use of the mark as "recycling," and asked this reporter if I would "give him money for new signs."

He asked if I would take a statement, and I recorded the following, reproduced verbatim:

"It's been pointed out that I'm re-using the 375th material for my signage. All I want to say is that I'm running a low-budget campaign this year, I'm recycling my literature from 2012, and those signs I purchased in November of 2013 to honor old houses in town and I've just put my logo on them, it was never meant as any more than just recycling materials to run a low-budget campaign. If people want to vote for me, then that would be great. But I just don't have the money. I've spent all the money I've made as a Councilor on projects around town, and I'm hoping people see that for what it's worth, and I'm a recycler at heart. That's the bottom line for me."

Asked how he would respond to those who would say that he was taking a non-partisan logo developed as a public good for the town and degrading it by using it in a partisan fashion for his own personal gain, Gleason responded:

"I would say I never thought about that when I put those signs out, nor do I think it's an issue at this point. Actually, if you look at the sign, it'll say '375 plus one' so I'm just carrying on the tradition honoring Portsmouth history."

Editorial note: Mr. Gleason made the accusation, during the interview, that this was partisan. Let me be very clear. When I post something because I'm a Democrat, I mention that if it's not blatantly obvious from the context. I'm pissed off about this because this was the logo for our Town's 375th anniversary, and he's using it as a campaign prop. What you are hearing right now is not faux partisan outrage; I'm personally offended and personally angry.

Click for original.

At least two signs for Independent Town Council candidate David Gleason contain the official logo used by Portsmouth for its 375th anniversary celebration. The signs — located on West Main Road and Union and on Park Ave next to the landfill — appear to have been made by attaching a Gleason campaign message to existing Portsmouth 375 signage.

I sent the following e-mail to the co-chairs of the Portsmouth 375 Committee, the Town Administrator, and the Town Council, cc'ing local media.

From: jmcdaid@torvex.com

Date: Sat, 25 Oct 2014 08:24:31 -0400

To: taiping35@cox.net, ggump1@verizon.net, JKlimm@portsmouthri.com, jseveney@portsmouthri.com, jblaess@portsmouthri.com, mbuddemeyer@portsmouthri.com, dgleason@portsmouthri.com, khamilton@portsmouthri.com, mmagee@portsmouthri.com, contactlizpedro@aol.com

Cc: jmcgaw@eastbaynewspapers.com, johnson@newportri.com

Subject: Misuse of Portsmouth 375 logo for campaign material by David Gleason

To the Portsmouth 375 Committee and Town Council:
As a founding member of and donor to the Portsmouth 375 Committee, I am outraged that the official logo developed by Roskelly is being used on campaign signs by Town Council candidate David Gleason (See attached photo).

This beautiful, award-winning logo was developed by Roskelly, Inc. as a non-partisan representation of our town, and it was intended to celebrate our whole community, as its use in many communications and official materials over the past years attest.

Using it in political advertising degrades the brand equity of this mark and does irrevocable damage to this important symbol. I'm publicly calling on Mr. Gleason to remove this from his signs, and I urge Portsmouth's Council and administration to support this position.

Best Regards.
-John

Full disclosure: There's not much in politics that makes me lose my cool. Most of the time, I can just accept that, hey, sketchy stuff happens. But this is different. Roskelly did such a beautiful, poetic mark for the Town's 375th anniversary celebration that it makes me really angry to see it reduced to political signage.