News

No political signs on public property

When the leaves start to fall, the political signs start popping up. Here’s a photo taken in the 1970s by a photographer for the now defunct The Kentucky Post. (Photo used courtesy of the Kenton County Public Library)

City to remove posters in the right of way 

COVINGTON, Ky. – Colorful political signs have sprung up around Covington on poles and fences and in yards, visual reminders that Election Day itself three weeks away (although early in-person voting begins Tuesday and absentee ballot voting is already under way).
 
But whether you see candidates’ signs as helpful advertising or a form of two-dimensional pestilence, their placement (especially the “who” and “where”) is governed by rules.
 
City Hall staff have received an array of complaints and concerns related to political advertising, so the City is issuing these reminders to candidates, campaigns, and property owners: 
  • No political signs (or signs from any organization) may be placed in the public right of way in Covington without an encroachment permit. That’s City ordinance.
  • On state-maintained routes, candidates and their supporters must receive an approved permit from the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet.
  • City staff will remove any political signs in the public right of way.
  • The placement of political signs on private property should occur only with the permission of that property owner. If that permission was not sought and granted, the property owner has the authority to remove that sign. Said more succinctly: If there’s a sign on your property that you don’t want there, you can remove it. (By the way, that is the property owner’s responsibility, not the City’s.) 

“In other words,” City Manager David Johnston said, “you ‘police’ your own property, and we’re going to ‘police’ the public’s.”

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