Justin Paulsen grants public permission to remove his campaign’s yard signs on public rights-of-way
A VIDEO IS AT THE BOTTOM OF THIS PAGE
Wednesday, November 6, 2024
by Jeff Noedel
An estimated 1,000 political yard signs sprang up on private and public land across the San Juans this general election season. Hundreds are still up. But without expressed permission of the “owners” of those signs, it is not wise to remove them from public rights-of-way.
Yard signs located on private property — including on private gates and fences — should not be removed by anyone other than the property owner.
In mid-October, San Juan Island resident Beth Helstein reached an agreement with the County Prosecutor’s office over a criminal case in which she removed a political sign from a public right of way two weeks after the primary election campaign had ended.
In the video below, San Juan County Council residency district 2 candidate Justin Paulsen invites citizens to remove his campaign’s yard signs from public rights-of-way and public space. He would appreciate getting the signs back, but that is not required.
Importantly, he is not empowered to authorize the removal of any other campaign’s signs. Nor is he empowered to authorize the removal of signs from anyone’s private property.