The Fairbanks City Council will take up a controversial ordinance Monday night that would sharply restrict when residents can display political signs on their own property.
The proposal, sponsored by Council Member Sue Sprinkle, would confine “temporary signs” such as political campaign displays to a 90-day window, limiting them to June through November in most years. Signs outside of that period — including those for candidates or ballot items in a spring special election — would be prohibited under city law.
Sprinkle has argued that campaign signs left up too early or lingering too long after an election amount to “visual litter.” Under the ordinance, any sign violating the timeline would be deemed a public nuisance. Property owners would have 15 days after notice to remove the display, after which the city could remove it at the owner’s expense. The ordinance also specifies that the city would have sole discretion to either dispose of or store any removed signs.
The measure is a direct assault on free speech, pointing to a federal court ruling in ACLU of Alaska v. Alaska DOT, which struck down state restrictions on political signs as unconstitutional. If enacted, the Fairbanks ordinance could suppress political expression ahead of special elections like the one held in May 2024.
The council will consider the ordinance at its meeting on Monday, Sept. 8, at 6:30 pm at City Hall. Members of the public can testify in person, email comments to [email protected], or submit feedback through the city’s online contact form here.
Is she mor-n. Her proposal might work cros the Bring Straits in Russia. It clearly violated the First Amendment. And why is it proposed? It just makes no sense.
I’m guessing Sue is a Liberal, and is tired of seeing Trump signs 10 months after his historic victory. Bothered by the earth returning to its natural axis. I’m surprised the flood of liberal tears hasn’t washed the signs away.
Cry harder, Sue and all her constitutes.
What’s really confounding in the local election for Fairbanks NSB Assembly is that candidate Patrick Roach has been quiet as a mouse. He’s a gay man and his husband is the City Attorney of Fairbanks who challenged Barb Haney on Monday night debate at City Hall. Is Mr. Thomas Chard speaking for his husband, or is Patrick Roach’s husband speaking as his wife?
LGBTQ world is strange indeed. And mighty confusing too.
Fairbanks has been pushing the LGBTQ agenda for awhile now, with a few homosexuals gaining local office. But this has to be a first, two gay men married to each other trying to control both the City Council and the Borough Assembly. And their slogan is: “New Direction.” It’s a bit much for this little frontier town. We do not need or want a new direction, controlled by LGBTQ.
Perhaps this explains the large number of left-wing candidate signs placed in public right-of-way, just outside of private property. As the City can’t fine the State or itself for signs these candidates put illegally into the right-of-way.
Left wing sign owners/erectors don’t appear to fully respect private property either.
Republicans understand they must first get permission to put up signs. Having put up signs for decades, I always understood it was equally important to bring signs down.
Signs IN the right-of-way are still illegal and they are taken away.
With respect, it seems your comment is unnecessary due to its blindingly obvious reasoning.
No one is taking my signs down. I’m voting for Johnny Walker Red, Jim Beam, and Jack Daniels. All three produce a liberal dose of feel good. Someone should tell the City Council that my 1st Amendment rights include putting these guys into my office. Dumbest ordinance ever, from a really dumb council woman.
Derm, were you over-served again?
Again. Fairbanks Republicans you need to be more engaged and even active serving as your district’s council members not stomping your feet, honking your car horn, protesting the liberals who are managing the city
The one at the council table is the one with a voice that’s heard and influences
Fairbanks Republicans: don’t get mad, get engaged and fully committed attending your community councils. (be patient because before there is a switch in leadership there is always a waiting time. Its the preparation time that prepares the incoming Republicans/Conservatives/Christians who arrived six months ago or a year ago)
Barb is too busy trying to get mentioned in the newspaper, Brett is asleep? Tammy is so unlikeable, and she won’t do a thing.
Electing a so-called Republican doesn’t necessarily advance our conservative goals. For example, see our legislature. What we need is to elect morally and intellectually mature individuals. These can be found in every age bracket, both genders, any phenotype (race is imaginary), or religion (although Christianity is the fountain of truth). Just electing Republicans is not the answer.
Political signs are “visual litter”? What about the junk cars, broken down RVs and cars, falling down car ports, yard trash and other garbage? I guess those don’t count as “visual litter”.
Republicans must be doing well heading into election day.
Another infringement on our free speech!!!
The radical left-wingers in Fairbanks have two main targets:
Mayor David Pruhs.
Assembly member Barb Haney.
This isn’t a surprise as both Pruhs and Haney are effective, conservative leaders in Fairbanks.
Political sign removal is just another political ploy by the mentally ill Democrats.
Here we go again. Mental illness and moral deficiency are two separate things. They are not mentally ill.
Sue Sprinkle is right on the money here. There are pollical signs for people that ran years ago along our main roads, and it looks cheap and sloppy.
Mike Cronk has a sign along Chena Pump that’s over a trash pile next to a trailer–he won his election almost a year ago, can he clean it up?
Your point is well made; except we don’t need more laws to address it.
It’s amazing how many times our local government tries every which way to get into we tax payer’s pockets. It’s like they think we are ignorant.
City Council meeting tonight. Please attend and ask the Democrats on the Council why they dislike the 1st Amendment. Political signs on private property represent the purest form of free speech. Democrats do it all the time, with impunity.
Disappointing to hear Suzanne is no longer going to be with Must Read, finding someone with half her talent and energy is going to be difficult.
GReat idea
If this passes, does that mean Fairbanksonians won’t be able to display their “Black Lives Matter,” “Hate has no home here,” and “In this home, we believe in science” signs?
Only if they are billboard size, I haven’t seen one of those, have you?
I’m putting a big billboard up at my house. Christmas lights on it too. But please don’t tell me I have a severe case of TDS.
As a general rule, the leftists tend to leave their signs around much longer than the folks on the right. I remember seeing Kerry/Edwards signs up well into 2007 a little while ago. Similar with Hillary signs.
.
It kind of surprises me that a left leaning assembly member would propose this. I guess seeing a Trump flag still flying is too much for their delicate sensibilities. Better to suppress the 1st amendment rights of others.
Put your signs up and keep them up. I don’t care who the sign is for. Its private property and the the signs are personal property. So its trespassing and stealing. I almost wish I lived in the city so I could put them up outside of the “allotted time frame.” I encourage everybody to ignore this ruling if it passes and fight tooth an nail (not physically of course) when they try to take away your freedoms.
Anyways they are fun target practice 😉
The sign? Or the candidate?
Both 😁
The Democrats big target is Barbara Haney. The Democrat’s candidate is a complete newcomer to Fairbanks, some guy named Roach who lives with his husband (the City of Fairbank’s attorney). Two gay lawyers working against a conservative grandma for an Assembly seat. This sounds like a Savannah Fletcher orchestrated campaign. The gay boy’s logo is: “A New Direction.”
Scripted from the LGBTQ hand guide. A Democrat’s wet dream.
Who is the candidate running against Assemblywoman Barbara Haney?
.
His name is Patrick Roach, a public defender in Fairbanks. Roach’s husband is another attorney, another man, named Tom Chard, who happens to be the Fairbanks City Attorney. So now we have certifiable LGBTQ persons running Fairbanks local government. Is this good for our children?
I did a check on the background of this Roach character. He’s a public defender for Alaska, but with an interesting twist. He has at least one DUI conviction and another conviction with jail time for violating his terms of probation. Not exactly a law abiding man. It doesn’t matter a bit to me that he’s openly homosexual and married to another homosexual man. That’s beside the point. The fact that he wants to be in charge of our lives along with his husband Tom Chard who already serves as the City Attorney ……that bothers me greatly. They and the nutcase Democrats on the left bother me.
The irony is that Chard, as the city attorney, works for the mayor, Dave Pruhs, a conservative who also has a radio show. So you got a couple of homos married to each other, one trying to take out a conservative grandma, and the other working alongside the mayor who is being challenged by a radical lefty woman who may or may not be a lesbian, and hates the grandma who is being challenged by the gay city attorney’s homosexual husband.
.
Fairbanks, you got big problems.
Well it bothers me. Transexuals, homosexuals, and lesbians (LGBTQ) are invading our society as though they are a majority voice. They are not a majority voice. The media is promoting them as a majority voice. They have been elevated to new positions in government, politics, law, and education so that we are somehow supposed to be afraid of them. We are not afraid of them. Their lifestyle is sickening. Their strategies for control are evil. But they are cowards. And it’s time to fight back.
No more LGBTQ in our local politics. They are pure poison to the community and a scourge to our young people’s minds. Vote against them Everytime.
Fairbanks would do well to read Supreme Court rulings on Reed v. Town of Gilbert and City of Austin v. Reagan National.
Fairbanks would do well to read Supreme Court rulings on Reed v. Town of Gilbert and City of Austin v. Reagan National.
This is THE political race everyone needs to pay attention to. LGBTQ has negatively infected our town and young people. Confusion has never been higher.
No more LGBTQ politicians. Their agenda, and engagement, is pure HATE. Do not vote for them!
What? Gary Wilken supporting LGBTQ candidate
for Assembly? Too much beer, Gary. Get an appointment with your neuro-doc.
I saw that too in the Newsminer that Gary Wilken gave the queer candidate Pat Roach $1000. Never seen something like that before. I guess Wilken likes homosexual men who marry other homosexual men. Or maybe he just hates conservatives like Barbara Haney. One thing for sure I won’t be going to drink at Wilkens bar where they serve hatred.
Sounds like the Fairbanks LGBTQ pushers have gotten desperate. In light of what is happening to our country right now, I wouldn’t be advertising that I was homosexual and trying to take the community in a “New Direction.”
No wonder Mr. Roach and his husband are being very quiet. Most LGBTQ married are proud of it and discuss it openly. Apparently, not in this
case.
Hey, Modern Family. Did they have children too, that are being enrolled in FNSBSD? The candidate Roach said he was a school teacher before he became a lawyer. What was he teaching to our kids? Can he tell us about his husband and how supportive he is? Can he tell us about his violation of parole?
Crickets.