La Puente Skirmishes Over Patriotic Sign

La Puente Councilman John Solis is not about to let a city ordinance get in the way of his support for American troops in Iraq.

The city warned Solis that by today, he must remove an 8-foot-tall patriotic sign he erected or face a $100 fine, because the sign is 2 feet taller than allowed by law. Solis said Thursday that the sign stays.

“We are at war right now, and I think we need to support our troops and our families,” said Solis, 38, who was recently reelected to a second term.

He erected the sign Sunday at Temple and Glendora avenues. On Monday, after Mayor Lou Perez received complaints from residents, city employees gave Solis today’s deadline to take the sign down or be fined.

The issue has pitted Solis and supporters of the sign against the city. About 40 supporters held rallies Thursday morning and afternoon in front of the sign.

“It has all the names of all our [local] military boys, and they should keep it,” said Irene Romo, 50. Her son, Marine Sgt. Richard Romo, 25, is in Iraq. “People are worried about a sign that’s a little too big. These kids are dying.”

Those at the morning rally included military veterans and mothers of deployed daughters and sons, Romo said.

Solis complained that the mayor, rather than calling him, called the city manager and asked that Solis be cited.

Perez said it was his duty to call the city manager after constituents complained and asked why a councilman was allowed to violate the ordinance.

“Everybody supports the troops,” said Perez, 65, who has been on the council since 1990. But “when you’re in politics, you have to set an example for everybody else.”

Solis said he acted on behalf of constituents. The idea jelled, he said, when the mother of a serviceman in Iraq asked him why the city had done nothing to show support for the troops.

Solis said he spent $250 of his own money and raised the sign on a friend’s private property.

Besides the flag, the sign has the names of 17 La Puente residents serving in Iraq. Solis plans to add more as parents come forward. The sign also displays his name prominently, which Perez said resembles political campaigning.

The city had shown public support by putting up flags in Old Town La Puente, Perez said.

Solis should have brought his idea to the City Council, which certainly would have embraced a sign representing the city, Perez said. It would have been on city property, where an exception to the 6-foot height limit could have been made.

“If he wants to be a Lone Ranger, then it becomes political when he has his name on it,” Perez said.

This week, the city ordered two of its own such signs. One will be placed at City Hall near a veterans memorial and the other at La Puente Park.

“This is a good thing,” Solis said. “It started out as a warning. Now there’s three signs that support the troops.”