By Katie Northcott, News Director
Due to concerns about mowing costs, the Capital Outlay Committee voted to place more restrictions on political signage in front of the Coffee County Administrative Plaza (CCAP).
Committee Chairman Terry Hershman presented the new restrictions at the committee’s meeting on June 4 as a resolution. The committee approved the resolution with a 4-1 vote (Commissioner Jimmy Hollandsworth opposed).
“We’ve had some issues with signs being out so early and then staying out so late that the maintenance people are wanting to charge more,” Hershman said. “And I’m about not costing us more money.”
The new regulations were adopted in addition to the current regulations regarding political signage and apply only to CCAP. The new regulations are as follows:
- Candidates are limited to two signs total in the area designated for political signs
- Only candidates whose name are on the ballot of the next actual election day are allowed to have signs posted at the CCAP facility
- No single sign shall exceed 16 square feet in size
- Political campaign signs are allowed to be placed in the assigned area only 30 days or less prior to the actual county wide election day. First day of early voting does not apply to this restriction.
- All political campaign signs must be removed within 7 days after the actual election date
The resolution came before the County Commission as an informational item at its June 9 meeting.
“A lot of counties don’t allow political signs at all [in spaces similar to CCAP]. And were this not an early voting precinct, I’m going to say we would not allow any political campaign signs in our front yard,” County Mayor Dennis Hunt said.
During the public comment period at the June 9 meeting, Coffee County resident Stuart McLaren raised concerns about how the new regulations would be enforced.
“The ordinance proposed tonight, it adds restrictions to something that isn’t necessarily an official resolution. So, it’s sort of a half measure,” McLaren said. “I would say to include in the proposed resolution an established enforcement authority, so the candidates know who to contact if they have questions about the rules or if the rules change after they’ve already gotten their packets.”
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