Campaign signs illegally placed in the city right of way have John Kromko upset with City Hall again.

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When John Kromko launched his doomed initiative effort last year to ban "toilet-to-tap" water delivery, the city — which opposed the plan — was suddenly inspired to strictly enforce its ordinance restricting signs.

Inspectors snatched his signs and dumped them, resulting in the city's having to repay Kromko on the eve of Proposition 200's defeat by voters.

The experience in 2007 was so bad that Kromko — who served in the Legislature back in the '80s — hasn't even bothered with signs for his latest state House run.

But as the Sept. 2 primary election nears, Kromko is accusing city officials of being soft on enforcement.

In a letter earlier this month, Kromko notified the city of specific locations where signs for Pima County Supervisors Sharon Bronson and Ramón Valadez are illegally in the right of way. The implication: The city targeted Prop. 200 in an effort to sink it.

As of Friday, a week after the letter was sent, the signs are still right where they were. And the incumbent supervisors were not the only offenders. Challengers Donna Branch-Gilby and Robert Robuck had signs on some of the same corners, as did legislative candidates.

"Would you please enforce your own regulations or let me know if there has been another 'just-in-time' change in regulations," the letter says.

Neighborhood Resources Director Eliseo Garza insisted the rules have always been applied consistently. Inspectors did visit the locations cited, he said, and confiscated the signs, but the next morning, they were back up.

"They are doing as much as they can, but there are a lot more volunteers putting up signs than we have people taking them down," Garza said.

Kromko's presence in the District 27 Democratic primary race has prompted incumbent Olivia Cajero Bedford to get up at the crack of dawn most days to get her message out to the voters.

And she's brought along a campaign trick that helped her first get into the Legislature six years ago: A bright purple Ford Ranger pickup truck.

She calls it "The Truck Gig With Olivia's Troops" — her version, it seems, of the Straight Talk Express.

Whatever you call it, it seemed to be resonating with commuters who flowed past Cajero Bedford early Thursday morning on Tucson's West Side.

Most drivers waved back at Cajero Bedford, who was decked out in a pink jumpsuit and a wide-brimmed straw hat with a bright purple ribbon.

"A honk means that's a guaranteed vote," joked supporter David Pittman.

Cajero Bedford said she re-created the truck — she used a similar one in 2002 to finish at the top of a six-person field for District 27's two House seats — in an effort to counter what she says is a strong push by Kromko, who has been flooding district voters with mailings.

"He's just a master at campaigning," Cajero Bedford said of Kromko, who is challenging her and fellow incumbent Phil Lopes.

"I never thought I would have a truck at this stage of my life," said Cajero Bedford, whose mother and father also served in the Legislature. "I thought I'd be driving around in some good-looking convertible."

If you happen to drop by the bathroom at the Marana Chamber of Commerce visitor center, think Tim Bee.

The Republican president of the state Senate — challenging Democrat Gabrielle Giffords for her 8th Congressional District seat — was recognized last week by chamber CEO Ed Stolmaker for securing a $25,000 grant from the state to help make the center's bathrooms ADA-compliant.

And Bee didn't leave the chamber's annual luncheon empty-handed.

His door prize: A free one-third page ad in the Explorer, a weekly community newspaper that covers the Northwest Side.