3 Firms May Face Fines for Postings

Three advertising firms could face up to $1,000 in fines after Los Angeles prosecutors charged them with illegally posting signs and fliers on lamp and utility posts in the San Fernando Valley.

While a prosecutor said the action will force ad firms to take notice, one of the defendants ridiculed the crackdown.

“These guys filing the charges should get a life,” said Kirk Briggs, whose ad company was charged.

“Do you know how many signs go up for a political campaign?” he asked. “One in a million signs may accidentally go on a city lamppost.”

The charges were filed in response to complaints by community groups, which are often associated with nonprofit graffiti-removal and neighborhood-watch organizations, said Frank Mateljan, spokesman for the Los Angeles city attorney’s office.

Ad hoc patrol groups are seeking out the signs, tearing them down and reporting them to authorities, Mateljan said.

Assistant City Atty. Rick Schmidt said illegal signs are more often dealt with by billing companies or individuals for the city’s cost of removing the signs.

Schmidt said he took legal action because “criminal charges are a better deterrent.”

Marketplace Productions Inc., Kirk Briggs Signs Inc. and Kirk David Briggs of Oakdale, Calif., were each charged with seven counts of illegally posting signs on city property and three counts of failing to comply with orders to remove the signs, which are civil charges.

They are also charged with seven counts of illegally posting signs on public property, a criminal charge.

Several individuals also face charges.

Joseph Anthony Parisi of Dana Point was charged with 14 counts of illegally posting signs on city property. Richard Steven Natelson of Moorpark was charged with two counts of illegally posting signs on city property and one count of failing to comply with removal orders. Paul Sigler and his company, Siggy Signs Inc., were charged with eight counts of illegally posting signs on city property