It doesn’t take long to find the signs. One drive around the Oak Park neighborhood and you’ll likely spot a parade of political posters urging residents to vote for a local candidate. Yet nestled among the red, white and blue are small laminated signs advocating for something unlike ever before: to elect fictional movie characters. 

One of these signs proclaims that “Ventura County needs a sheriff with a pointy stick,” with bright yellow words below declaring Jacques Clouseau to become the next county sheriff. Yet the sheriff position isn’t on the ballot and Closeau isn’t an Oak Park resident at all — he’s actually a bumbling police detective from the Pink Panther series. Another sign establishes Clouseau as someone “for you. For the people. For law and order. Against moths.” On the left-hand side of the text, a picture of Clouseau nervously eyes the words, perhaps wary of any of those light-addicted butterflies. 

Another sign promotes Larry Vaughn for the Oak Park Municipal Advisory Council, the text declaring that Oak Park must “end the communism of masks.” While initially this phrase seems to blare controversy, a closer look (and a quick Google search) shows that Vaughn is the ill-advised mayor of Amity Island, the location where great white sharks attack in the 1975 movie Jaws. While his citizens were viciously attacked by a shark, he continued to insist that everything was completely and totally fine. Some individuals have made comparisons to the actions of current anti-maskers with Vaughn’s behavior in the movie. It’s possible to conclude that the maker of the sign drew similar parallels. 

As of Nov. 4, the creator of the signs is a mystery. Yet in a time where real-life politics seems to clutter both our minds and the neighborhood, there is a certain humor in imagining fictional characters running local politics. Of course, as long as there’s no moths around.