Anaheim : Travel Agent Wins Jury to His Side in Sign Fight

When Kim Williams was cited for having an illegal portable sign outside his travel agency in Anaheim, he attached the sign to the door with a piece of wire. No longer was it a portable sign, and all was well, Williams figured.

But city officials did not accept Williams’ method of circumventing the code. It was not the first time the owner of Starlight Travel Service had been cited. Last year, he even spent several hours in jail after failing to show up in court to answer a similar allegation--a summons he said he never received.

Last week, Williams settled his latest skirmish with the city in a courtroom. Following a weeklong trial that Williams said left him “a nervous wreck,” a 12-member jury ruled in favor of the Anaheim man.

“I am so happy of winning,” Williams said. “It was quite a feat.”

During the trial before Judge Betty L. Elias in North Orange County Municipal Court, Williams defended his actions by calling the city’s enforcement arbitrary. He pointed to other portable signs, notably along Harbor Boulevard, that are allowed to remain. The city, Williams said, was “after” him.

Code enforcement officer Bruce Freeman said he was “after” no one. “I was never picking on Mr. Williams,” Freeman said. “I was doing my job. There’s no way you can give notices and violations to everyone.”

In describing his job, the code enforcement officer made an analogy to a police officer stopping a speeder, one of many speeding but one of the few to get caught. “We do our best. There’s no way we can get them all. It’s just impossible.”

Williams still has his portable sign outside his business at 1047 N. State College Blvd., attached with a wire. On Thursday, he walked into City Hall to apply for a permit. But application for a permit does not automatically mean he will receive one, Freeman said.

Williams is optimistic that there will be no further problems. He wasn’t as positive, however, during the trial, in which he represented himself until almost the end.

“I really thought it was a losing battle,” said Williams, who got a lawyer toward the end of the trial. “I thought I was a goner, so I went out and got some help.”

Freeman said he was glad it was over with, but, along with others from his office called to the witness stand, he was disappointed with the outcome. “All signs in the city of Anaheim are required to have a sign permit. . . . He just continued to violate the city code.”

Freeman attributed the jury’s decision to “confusion more than anything else.” The case, he said, was clear-cut. Williams had violated city law, he explained.

This was Williams’ third trial, but the first one to reach a jury. The other two, for similar alleged violations, were dismissed, he said.