Anaheim : Vote Due in Bid to Curb Illegal Campaign Signs

The City Council is expected to adopt an ordinance today that Mayor Donald R. Roth has said means the “death of political signs in Anaheim.”

Illegal political signs, anyway.

In response to a proliferation of signs in public rights of way during election campaigns, Roth--a candidate for county supervisor in the November election--and his colleagues on the council will vote on a law that prohibits the signs on such places as utility poles and street medians.

If adopted, the law will allow the city to remove illegal signs and charge the signs’ owners for removing and storing them. The ordinance also would set a $50 fine for violations and a $50 reward for information that results in a conviction.

“They’ve gotten very creative and slapped signs on top of stop signs and street names,” Councilwoman Miriam Kaywood said. “And that can be so dangerous.”

Saying that signs on public properties often obstruct drivers’ vision, impair access to public facilities such as fire hydrants and constitute a hazard to utility workers if placed on telephone or utility wires or poles, the council will consider declaring the law an emergency measure. Emergency ordinances take effect immediately upon adoption instead of after the usual 30-day wait.

Last week, the council discussed and then turned down an optional provision to the ordinance that would allow “any private citizen to remove signs in the public right of way and deliver” them to the city. Concerned that campaign supporters may take down signs that are legally posted by opponents, the council passed on the option.