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City Council - 04/16/1996 - Workshop APPROVED MINUTES SPECIAL CITY COUNCIL WORKSHOP TO DISCUSS CAMPAIGN ISSUES TUESDAY,APRIL 16, 1996 6:00 PM,TRAINING ROOM 8080 Mitchell Road COUNCILMEMBERS: Mayor Jean Harris, Ronald Case, Patricia Pidcock, Ross Thorfinnson, Jr. and Nancy Tyra- Lukens CITY COUNCIL STAFF: City Manager Carl J. Jullie, Assistant City Manager Chris Enger,Zoning Administrator Jean Johnson and Council Recorder Jan Nelson ROLL CALL All members were present. Councilmember Pidcock arrived late. I. CALL MEETING TO ORDER Mayor Harris called the meeting to order at 6:20 p.m. H. CAMPAIGN ISSUES Case was concerned about multiple signs on one location, signs on county property and the proliferation of signs shortly before election day. He would prefer that Staff be empowered to take the signs on the right-of-way immediately if they are in violation of the code, rather than following the process of notifying the campaign director which can extend the time the signs are in violation for five days or more. Councilmember Pidcock arrived at 7:35 PM. Thorfinnson thought the problem is a function of enforcement, especially right before the election. Pidcock thought we need a penalty. Tyra-Lukens noted that we are not dealing with professionals at the local level. These are volunteer workers who may not know what the rules are. Johnson suggested that we offer a class to the campaign workers to help train them. City Attorney Pauly reviewed the broader issues of discriminating against freedom of speech by limiting the time political signs can be displayed and the number of signs. Tyra-Lukens asked about the concept of designated spots in the City where candidates could put up signs. Pauly said there would be a problem with the content neutral issue unless we lumped all types of signs in one area. Pauly noted that the trend is to liberalize sign policies. CITY COUNCIL WORKSHOP April 16, 1996 Page 2 Councilmembers discussed concerns regarding the three-day warning policy to the campaign director. Johnson said shortening the three-day period would make it more difficult for Staff. She said since September of 1994 we have not observed the three-day notice period for right- of-way violations and have enforced the ordinance on a complaint basis or on a flagrant violation. Pauly said we could deal with the violations at the end of the campaign by providing that it would constitute an offense in the last few days of the campaign . Thorfinnson said he thought most of the problems are caused by a lack of knowledge and that we should focus on making attendance at classes a requirement for filing. Johnson said we give them a written outline now, and we might want to distribute a pictorial example of proper placement. Case was concerned that, as the City grows, the number of candidates running in each election will increase and the problems dealing with campaign signs will also grow. He wanted to lessen the labor-intensive process that goes on by identifying the two or three things that are most obnoxious and permit Staff to take the signs in those situations. Harris was concerned about the cases where people were measuring placement and reporting signs that were only two inches off the limit. Thorfinnson thought that is where we are headed if we create a lot of regulation. He thought the answer might be to focus on perpetual violators. Pidcock was concerned about incidents of"dirty tricks," such as moving another candidate's signs. Enger asked where we are at regarding signs on private property. Pauly said we can take them only if they are in the right ofway. We could give three-day notice for those on private property and further limit the notice provision under certain circumstances, such as during the last three days of campaign. Case was concerned that the procedure to call the campaign does not work, and some signs are put up without asking the owner. Pidcock noted they are supposed to have permission from the property owner. Case would like to have us do a better job of picking up signs on the right of way and thought we should just plan for someone to staff the sign enforcement for the last three days of the campaign. We should have a place to store them and have a$10.00 fee to get them back. Enger was concerned that we have a limited number of people to pick up signs and we have to have evidence such as pictures or measurements that prove the signs were in violation. He thought we could devote staff time at the end of the campaign to a dedicated effort towards education and enforcement. He also thought we don't have an obligation to give the signs back. Johnson noted that we have given them back in the past. Harris said she would like to go ahead with the education program and think about dealing with the flagrant violators. CITY COUNCIL WORKSHOP April 16, 1996 Page 3 Case was okay with focusing more intense efforts during the last few days. M. OTHER BUSINESS IN. ADJOURNMENT Harris adjourned the meeting at 7:20 p.m.