Politicians' 'vanity' signs

County and town signs with the names of elected officials are nothing more than self-promotion by politicians, according to new Hempstead Town Supervisor Laura Gillen, who replaced more than 100 signs in the town. Now generic signs read "Welcome to Your Town of Hempstead." They no longer have the names of the supervisor or board members. Gillen said this is a one-time cost of $4,600 instead of spending $3,000 every time signs needed to be updated.