KATU TV News 2, Portland, Oregon: September 24, 2007, 7:00 PM
PORTLAND, Ore. - In a battle waged street by street, pole by pole, a local man has made it his mission to get rid of illegal signs.
O. Nenslo is an unemployed bookbinder with a bike and a beef.
"On a bike, you see everything," he said. "So when I'm out riding, I see all the signs. I used to wish somebody would do something about that, then I realized I am somebody."
That is when Nenslo started his collection of sorts - 170 signs in four months.
"Every time I see a phone number on a pole, I think I have to keep people from calling that number so they get the idea that they're not going to be making a profit from trashing our neighborhood," he said.
It is illegal to hang signs on city or utility poles, even signs advertising jobs for people who want to put up more signs.
Nenslo said a few years ago most of the signs were for work-at-home jobs or weight loss programs, but now nearly all of them target people caught in a credit crunch.
"The 'I Buy Houses' signs are my nemesis, the most efficient of all the illegal sign posters," Nenslo said. "He's got a ladder, so he puts them way up and nails them in really good. I kind of have to respect him. He works hard."
The 'nemesis' even switched from small nails to two-inch roofing nails, forcing Nenslo to develop a new weapon in his fight against the signs - a specially-made pole.
KATU News decided to call the 'I Buy Houses' guy ourselves. He told us when he sends people to put out the signs, he tells them not to put them on the poles, but they do anyway and that he only removes the signs when he gets complaints.
For a very short time, the city fined a few illegal sign posters, but they said they simply do not have the time to devote to it anymore.
"It's a timely process, a resource-heavy process that we just don't have the ability to sustain," said Cheryl Kuck with the Portland Department of Transportation.
Regardless, Nenslo remains undeterred.
"It's easy to give up when you think you're the only one who cares about something like this," he said. "But you just have to keep at it and eventually people will notice and they'll help you out."
The city actually does encourage volunteers like Nenslo, so long as they do not damage painted light posts.