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Mark Mitchell campaign signs are illegal???
On the other hand if Mark Mitchell is supported by the government bureaucrats in the fire and police departments he certainly isn't the person a Libertarian should vote for! Of course police state supporter Michal Monti the other canidate for Tempe Mayor isn't any better so don't vote for either of them. Activist planning to remove pro-Mitchell campaign signs by Dianna M. Náñez - Apr. 18, 2012 03:48 PM The Republic | azcentral.com A Tempe resident with GOP-party ties, who filed an election complaint against a Phoenix fire fighters' labor group's campaign signs supporting Mark Mitchell, is forming a "grassroots citizen army" to begin removing the signs. A.J. LaFaro, the chairman of the Legislative District 17 Republicans, said he and like-minded constituents are livid about a lack of action related to the signs. He said Tempe City Manager Charlie Meyer wrote Bill Whitaker of the United Phoenix Fire Fighters Association a week ago that the signs may violate Tempe personnel regulations, yet Whitaker's signs still stand today. The campaign signs state "Your firefighters support Mark Mitchell for mayor of Tempe." As is required by state election law, the signs noted that they were paid for by the United Phoenix Fire Fighters Association. City Attorney Andrew Ching told the Tempe Republic Wednesday that the word "your" on the signs could be interpreted to mean Tempe firefighters were involved in crafting the message of support for Mitchell, which would violate personnel regulations LaFaro filed his complaint after he saw the signs posted throughout Tempe starting March 24. LaFaro's complaint alleges the signs violate Tempe policy, which states that city employees may not take part in a campaign of a candidate or solicit funds for candidates. Tempe personnel rules state that an employee shall not "use his or her position to introduce, guide, or recommend any candidate for public office on city property. However, an employee may exercise his or her rights as a citizen to vote and express opinions as an individual citizen." Meyer sent a letter to Whitaker on April 12 stating that, "in order to avoid confusion and the implication that Tempe Firefighters are in violation of the City Personnel Rules, the city of Tempe requests that you either remove the above noted campaign signs, or remove the word "Your" from those signs." On Wednesday, LaFaro told the Tempe Republic that "citizens here in Tempe are upset and outraged. We're going to go organize as a grassroots citizen army and we'll go ahead and take the signs down for Mr. Whitaker and collect the signs and deliver them to his office over there in Phoenix." Whitaker said he received Meyer's letter Monday and an e-mail Wednesday from LaFaro outlining his threat. He said he hopes LaFaro would think twice before violating state law by removing his campaign signs. "I would hope that if some citizens group headed up by this guy took it upon themselves to start removing signs that we wouldn't have to file suit, because the city of Tempe would uphold the law and prosecute him," Whitaker said. "(But) if we have to we will push hard to have him prosecuted and anyone else that takes down these signs." LaFaro said he is willing to take the risk, adding that "I think citizens have to fight for what they believe in." Whitaker said no Tempe firefighters were involved in crafting the message on or paying for the signs. He said he is writing a response to Tempe. "For several years, we've done thousands of identical signs across the state of Arizona that have the words "your firefighters" and it has never been an issue," he said. Whitaker believes Tempe would be violating his First Amendment rights if officials maintain he must remove the message from his signs. "That's the central political message of these signs, and as such it is entitled to the highest form of protection under the First Amendment," he said. "Requiring a change in the text of the message constitutes an impermissible prior restraint and fulfills no compelling state interest." Ching said that Tempe will review Whitaker's response when it is received and use that information to help determine whether the signs violate city personnel rules and regulations. LaFaro said Tempe was irresponsible not to give Whitaker a deadline to remove the signs. He is also angry that Tempe recently determined that fliers promoting Tempe firefighters' community work did not violate city personnel rules or election laws. Ching said that the fliers did not contain a political message so he did not consider them election material. |