Friday, November 16, 2001
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Friday, November 16, 2001 |
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Mayoral candidate skirts sign law accidentally after getting city officials' OK By JOHN
MUNFORD One of the two remaining candidates for mayor in Peachtree City inadvertently ran afoul of the city's sign ordinance Saturday morning while campaigning near the intersection of Ga. highways 54 and 74. The irony is that Steve Brown had previously gotten permission from the city to use his campaign sign while he waved to motorists. But after about two hours, building official Tom Carty appeared and told Brown that his sign actually violated the sign ordinance. The ordinance states that political campaign signs may not exceed nine square feet in size. Once he was notified the sign was indeed in violation of the city ordinance, Brown agreed to remove the sign from view. "I had approval from the ordinance enforcement people, (city clerk) Jane Miller and the Police Department," Brown said. He added, however, that he didn't wish to give Carty a hard time since he is trying to run a positive campaign. City spokesperson Betsy Tyler said city officials "regret Mr. Brown was embarrassed by this when he in fact called ahead to check." Brown is facing Gary Rower in the runoff election Nov. 27. Since courts typically give greater leeway to political speech as opposed to commercial speech, Brown said he may consider changing the sign ordinance to give reflect that tendency if he is elected to office. And yes, Brown plans to be back out there Saturday morning -- getting his face in the public eye.
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