Historic district proposal shut down. Warnings that it Will be coming back some day • Committee reverses decision on political sign ordinance • A thin blue line coming to a street near you. This spring. • City wants to buy a biofuel generator. Says no to solar • http://CitizenCain.org
An ordinance that would ban political advertising on city property and public rights of way was returned to the Planning, Licenses and Development committee for further review. Current state law prohibits the placing of political advertising on public property but this has never stopped candidates from doing just that every election season. Because of this, a new city ordinance was introduced earlier this month in an attempt to clarify the law by indicating the exact locations within Keene that would be off limits. It was recommended (3 to 1) and sent to full council for a final vote.
However, a recent Supreme court ruling, Reed vs Gilbert, has brought into question the constitutionality of such a restriction. It was decided to return the bill back to committee for further scrutiny. City officials as well as members of the public weighed in and it was ultimately decided to reverse the previous decision. This time the committee voted unanimously to “not adopt” the ordinance. Full city council will vote on the proposal at its Nov 3rd meeting.
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City planners pass ordinance prohibiting political signage on city property and public rights-of-way • Hero worship and trendy blue lines everywhere • https://CitizenCain.org
Submitted as a letter to the Keene Sentinel:
In a 3 to 1 vote, the Planning, Licenses, and Development committee passed a resolution to prohibit the posting of political advertising on city property and public rights-of-way. The resolution goes to full council on the 20th.
To many, the the political signage around town can be messy at times, especially during presidential years, but this resolution is a clear violation of our freedom of speech rights and also conflicts with current state statute that protects placing political signs on public property.
As it stands, RSA 31:41-c authorizes municipalities to create bylaws regulating electioneering. But state statute RSA 664:17 protects the placement of political signs on public rights-of-way, as long as it doesn’t obstruct the safe flow of traffic.
This comes right on the heels of a ridiculous new amendment to RSA 659:43 that now prohibits voters from entering the polling place wearing campaign related clothing. Clearly some of our state reps have entirely too much time on their hands.
Passing this new ordinance will undoubtedly open up lawsuits against the city which they will likely lose. The courts do routinely recognize extra protections for political speech. That means “we” the taxpayers will be picking up the tab as usual for mistakes made by the city. Please contact your city councilors and urge them to vote against this.
Conan Salada
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