Rancho Penasquitos ‘System Doesn’t Work’ : 72-Year-Old ‘Sign Vigilante’ Is Sentenced to Probation

George Wynhoff used to wake up every day waging war against sign posters, the people who he says place “eyesores” along the medians, walls and telephone poles of his Rancho Penasquitos community.

Seven days a week, several hours a day, the 72-year-old “sign vigilante” patrolled his neighborhood in search of illegal signs, those on city property within 10 feet of a curb. Garage sales, lost dogs, church carnivals, houses for sale, all of them have to go, Wynhoff said.

“I patrol the area between Rancho Penasquitos Boulevard, Carmel Mountain Road, Black Mountain Road and Paseo Montalban,” Wynhoff said. “It’s not fun, but somebody has to do it.”

Though Wynhoff’s efforts have paid off by leaving a virtually sign-free community and educating those who post signs illegally, they also have got him into trouble with the law.

Three Years’ Probation

In facing two of several charges pending against him, Wynhoff on Wednesday was ordered to stop taking down illegal signs as part of his campaign against clutter.

Municipal Judge Linda Quinn sentenced Wynhoff to three years’ probation after he was convicted of petty theft, a misdemeanor, by a jury. He was given a choice of paying a $300 fine or performing 80 hours of volunteer work with the St. Vincent de Paul Center for the homeless. Wynhoff said he will appeal the conviction.

The retired real estate broker was also ordered not to hire or instruct anyone to take down signs and not to confront people about the legality of their signs.

“It is not your job to take the law into your own hands,” the judge said. “You have aggravated many, many people in Rancho Penasquitos.”

Removed Thousands of Signs

Wynhoff, who acted as his own attorney, told the judge he had taken down thousands of illegal signs every week for the past 2 1/2 years.

The offense he was convicted of concerned his removal last November of a banner put up by the Boy Scouts advertising a firewood sale.

On trial with Wynhoff was J. Joseph Crowley, 70, who was acquitted.

“He was acquitted because I kept the banner in my garage,” Wynhoff said in a telephone interview. “I was following the police’s instructions who told me to keep the sign. In January, they called back and told me to take the sign to them and they arrested me.”

Assistant City Atty. Joe Schilling said, “You’ve got to work through the system and not to take the law into your own hands.”

‘System Doesn’t Work’

“The system doesn’t work--period,” Wynhoff said later.

He noted, for example, that Saturdays are especially popular days for hired crews to post signs to attract home buyers and garage-sale seekers, Wynhoff said. Those are heavy work days for Wynhoff, who claims his numerous complaints to the Police Department and city officials proved fruitless.

Officials responsible for policing the city’s sign ordinance were unavailable for comment.

“When I take the signs down, I return them to the address listed on the sign with a copy of the sign code,” Wynhoff said. “I tell them I am a member of the beautification committee and that they put it up illegally. If they have any questions they can call the city.”

Even though Wynhoff’s anti-sign exuberance has landed him in trouble, he’s unrepentant.

“If I had to do this over again, I probably wouldn’t get involved,” he said. “But now that I’m in it, I want to see this through to the bitter end.”