Dear Editor,
I’m sending this letter to respond to the sign ordinance debacle and share what I have communicated to and from Jim Ake, Westfield City Council President. I’m calling it a debacle because the County Commissioners have now passed three different ordinances, repealed the first two, and the City of Westfield has passed an ordinance but held off on publishing. Cindy Spoljaric, Westfield City Councilor, suggested holding off on the vote on the ordinance until a determination at the County was made, but then she voted for the ordinance.
Email sent to Jim Ake on April 3:
Jim,
Saw your comments in Current today. This morning before 9:30 the Hamilton County Commissioners repealed the ordinance the City ordinance mirrored.
Last Thursday Judge Hughes pointed out many flaws. The Commission passed a new sign ordinance with many changes including taking out the $500 fine.
What are you going to do now? Maybe you should have accepted Councilor Spoljaric’s suggestion. Clearly Attorney Zaiger couldn’t predict the outcome.
Oh, the Ordinance to amend the UDO regarding signs didn’t have a public hearing at Monday’s APC. Why?
Respectfully,
Linda Naas
Jim Ake’s response, April 4:
This proposal was agreed to by the four mayors and county commissioners to address the public demand to eliminate ground sign clutter in a clear, enforceable and consistent county wide manner. The ordinance was properly promulgated. After council introduction on March 12, I received only 1 comment on this legislation. On March 26th, Council voted 7 – 0 and it passed.
Council is in support of the county in adopting the same ordinance. We held back our publication to see if a ruling on the county ordinance came just in case. We will follow suit with the county and will continue to do so as to avoid a tangled web of rules and obligations for Washington Township.
My email response to Jim Ake, April 4, copying the entire City Council:
What about consistency throughout the county as it relates to state jurisdiction? I think the argument for consistency falls apart when you don’t include state. Throughout the city and county there are state highways. So why not support an ordinance that is consistent with state code at least? Are you expecting candidates, volunteers and private residents to decipher the differences?
So does that mean the City will repeal and adopt an ordinance similar to the Commissioner’s yesterday and whatever happens beyond that, the City will continue to mirror? Why should the residents of Westfield care what 3 other Mayors think when no one asked what they think? So it’s not about public safety but about “ground sign clutter”? Your City government hasn’t enforced other ground sign clutter since the 2014 ordinance. But sign clutter is preference for appearance and doesn’t outweigh rights to free speech.
Where is proof that political signs cause accidents as you claim the cause of public safety? Do we have police reports?
Clearly from the meeting yesterday, the county commissioners don’t care what the Sheriff thinks about the difficulty of enforcing such an ordinance. Who will enforce at the City level of government?
Where is the public demand you mention? Show us the evidence of your claim.
Why no public hearings? I don’t think you know what the public thinks without those. You mention one comment you received; was that from Rick McKinney, County Council? It seems you and the City can’t accept state code as sufficient and continue to encroach on people’s right to free speech and their private property rights.
With your comments in the Current, the $500 fines were brought out which is telling of your view and motivation if this is the important point to make. The commissioners knew enough from Court to remove the fines from their newly voted sign ordinance.
Did you forget that the Westfield ordinance in existence before 3/26/18 protected public safety in regards to political signs? So it’s not about that.
Is it unbridled power? I can legislate, so I do.
The timing of this issue on sign ordinance clearly shows it is about “political signs”. Otherwise, you and the county commissioners would have taken the time to study the issue and not make such a debacle of it. The commissioners have now passed 3 different ordinances and the latest doesn’t match the City’s.
Your champion in this matter, Mark Heirbrandt (Westfield resident and County Commissioner) violated all government level ordinances in his last election when he left his signs up beyond 6 days after the primary election through the general election and beyond. Mayor Cook’s large signs remained up during the entire time primary to general. Will you continue to choose on whom to enforce the sign ordinance, which is a political action?
Respectfully,
Linda Naas
Westfield