Board approves amended campaign sign ordinance

By Randy Bell    

Clintonians who allow political candidates to place campaign signs in their yards now bear the responsibility of removing those signs when the election is over.   The Board of Aldermen voted August 4 to amend the existing ordinance, which gave candidates seven days to pick up their own signs.   Property owners and tenants will now have only five days to take them down.

The Board defeated a proposal to allow independent candidates, who don’t appear on the ballot until the general election, to put up yard signs beginning 45 days from the primary, the same as for party candidates whose names are on the primary ballot.  That keeps in place the previous language which says independents can’t have signs up until 45 days before the general election.

Ward 3 Alderwoman Amanda Jones was one of five Board members who voted against giving all candidates the same amount of time to have their signs up. 

“I think it’s confusing to voters,” Jones said.  She pointed out that someone who saw an independent candidate’s yard sign in the weeks leading up to the primary might go to the polls expecting to find that person’s name on the ballot. 

“You should be able to have your sign up for an election that you’re in,” she said.

Ward 6 Alderman James Lott agreed with Jones that allowing independents to have yard signs earlier would create confusion and said it would also result in a clutter of signs around Clinton. 

“We do a great job of keeping our area nice and neat when it pertains to political signs,” Lott said.

Ward 4 Alderman Chip Wilbanks cast the only vote in favor of treating all candidates the same in regard to campaign signs, saying his fellow Board members took a position that was “self-serving.”

Hayden King ran unsuccessfully for Ward 5 alderman as an independent in last year’s election, and he believes the proposal the Board rejected was about fairness. 

“All candidates [would] get an equal amount of exposure,” he said.  “I think it is a free speech and First Amendment violation if all candidates do not have the same amount of time to put out their signs.”

One local voter, Sherri Smith, says she likes seeing campaign signs in her neighborhood, because they tell her who’s running for which office. 

“I do think signs are important, because you can do your research [on the candidates].   And maybe if all the signs were out at the same time, then voters could make a decision on what they want to do.  I think everybody deserves a fair chance.” 

Other parts of Clinton’s campaign sign ordinance which were left unchanged state that unilluminated ground-mounted political signs can have a maximum area of six square feet, except for signage placed on outdoor advertising signs. 

No lot is permitted to have more than one sign per candidate. 

Signs are allowed only on private property with the consent of the owner.  Signs can’t be placed in a neighborhood’s common areas, at any public facility or in commercial or industrial areas. 

The amended ordinance will take effect September 4.