Barring a Florida-like dangling chad moment, Adams County should be down to two candidates for sheriff by week’s end.

Once all the absentee and affidavit ballots are counted, we’ll know who will be facing Ray Brown in a runoff.

And that, thank goodness, means we can start cleaning up our county.

Candidates who didn’t garner enough votes to move on need to hit the streets this morning and remove their campaign signs.

Each campaign brings a colorful clutter to our county that many of us would prefer to do without. We have no choice but to bear it until after the election, but once it is all said and done, let’s clean up.

To those candidates and their supporters who did not win, you can earn the respect of your neighbors by hitting the streets and removing all vestiges of your campaign.

And while we are cleaning, let’s shake hands with the other side, agree to work together and prepare for a campaign-free life.

Brown and whoever faces him in a runoff have a few weeks before cleanup must begin. But soon enough, let’s rid our county of signs, stickers and billboards and focus on the beautiful fall leaves instead.

Crime prevention in Adams County is going to take work from more than just the sheriff’s office. So no matter who our new sheriff ultimately is, let’s be prepared to support him.