Candidates complain of campaign sign limits

Jennifer Kho

COSTA MESA -- They stand on stakes, promoting different candidates in

large, block letters.

They are campaign signs, which the City Council last month decided to

hold to the same public right of way standards as all other signs.

A 1999 ordinance allows signs to be posted on public property only

between 6 a.m. Friday and 6 p.m. Sunday.

Some candidates say it’s unfair.

“The ordinance benefits incumbents, and two of the [City Council

members who voted on the issue] are running for reelection,” said

candidate William Perkins. “Incumbents don’t need name recognition

because they already have it, but challengers who want to get name

recognition can’t put up signs to get it. The public needs to know who

they are electing and a lot of people vote based on signs.”

Perkins also said he thinks the ordinance is unevenly enforced.

Rick Brown, a building official for the city, said enforcement is

unbiased.

“I get the report about whose signs are picked up where and what made

it illegal, and I can tell you that no single candidate or group of

candidates are being singled out,” he said. “On any given day, a variety

of signs are picked up. We don’t look at whose sign it is, we look at

where it is posted. Our job is not to endorse any of the candidates, our

job is to make sure there is a level playing field and we take that very

seriously.”

Signs on private property are not restricted. On public parkways --

landscaped areas between streets and sidewalks -- signs must be a maximum

of three feet tall and five feet wide, and can be posted between 6 a.m.

Friday and 6 p.m. Sunday only.

Signs are not allowed in parks, landscape medians, community centers

and other public properties. They are also limited to 10 per candidate.

Candidate Dan Worthington said he disagrees with the 10-sign limit.

“I don’t think signs beautify the city, but I think they are part of

the First Amendment,” he said. “If you’re going to be a viable candidate,

you have to find a viable way to promote that and signs are one of the

more effective ways. And how in the world can we put signs up all over

the city when we’re only allowed 10?”

The ordinance -- initially passed to allow real estate open house

signs -- is actually more lenient than the previous law, which didn’t

allow any signs in the public right of way, said Councilwoman Heather

Somers.

Larry Weichman, a real estate broker and Costa Mesa resident, said he

supports prohibiting signs on public property.

“I actually put a sign up [to advertise open houses], but I would

still prefer not to have it,” Weichman said. “If we had a blanket law

that didn’t allow any signs, it would free up code enforcement to spend

time dealing with other problems in the city. I think it would save money

in the long run.”

Somers said she doesn’t think any signs should be allowed on public

property. Mayor Gary Monahan said he would have no problem with allowing

signs in the public right of way every day during election time.

City Council members Joe Erickson and Libby Cowan said the ordinance

is fair because it requires everybody to follow the same rules.

“I think anyone who runs for political office has to be involved in

the community,” Erickson said. “That’s how to get name recognition.

That’s where name recognition comes from, not from throwing signs on

public property.”

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