Underground, illegal advertising littering Woodland Hills

At the March meeting of the Woodland Hills Neighborhood Council, board member Sean McCarthy spoke out against the number "grass-roots" advertising signs cropping up in the community, selling everything from handyman services to paternity testing to copper repiping.

He brought in several signs to the meeting, signs he personally had taken down, according to the council's Web site, www.whcouncil.org.

"How do we expect kids to respect the law and our community when they are surrounded by illegal and ugly signs that clutter our streets?" he asked. "It sends a message that our public space is also a bulletin board! It's no wonder then that we end up with graffiti."

Residents spoke in support of McCarthy's battle to clean up what is basically manufactured graffiti and cited other examples such as the "New Homes" signs that litter the landscape.

Residents said they are frustrated trying to stop this underground advertising and are having difficulty getting support from officials who are responsible for dealing with muncipal code violations.