The Chandler City Council is considering a pair of reforms to election rules to help manage situations like the “free-for-all’ City Attorney Kelly Schwab describes and which is pictured here along a Florida roadway.
A pair of modifications to city campaign sign rules were proposed at a late-February Chandler City Council work session.
Proposals listed in a work session online agenda packet mention what ordinances neighboring Valley cities have in place, especially regarding political signs in right-of-way areas.
City Attorney Kelly Schwab said Gilbert, Mesa, Tempe, Phoenix and Scottsdale all prohibit temporary signs in the right-of-way. Chandler currently has no such prohibition.
Here are the two main proposed Chandler changes, described in the council work session by Schwab:
• Banning temporary signs in the right-of-way. Temporary signs will not be removed during the election time periods listen in A.R.S. 16-1019.
• Require all temporary signs in the right-of-way to include contact information. This would be done in ways that don’t conflict with state law, Schwab said, with an equal application. It would provide city staff with a a method of contact.
Council members Matt Orlando and O.D. Harris both said it would be good to include, in city code, a thorough definition of what is and isn’t a right-of-way.
Mayor Kevin Hartke had Schwab clarify and reinforce a few prohibitions Chandler already has in its code. One example of this is that no signs are permitted on medians of divided streets or highways in Chandler; city staff can remove signs in such medians immediately, but must also notify the campaign that it’s doing so.
Council also heard a presentation from Schwab and City Clerk Dana DeLong with refreshers about Arizona political action committees and campaign finance complaints and the flow of Chandler enforcement.
DeLong didn’t call for specific changes to any campaign finance city rules or procedures. But she did acknowledge that requiring and enforcing a provision requiring contact information will help the city enforce of finance laws and rules.
Arizona councils cannot vote on any approvals or legislation at work sessions. Chandler allows public input at its work sessions and two officials with ties to the area spoke at the Feb. 24 work session.
Chandler Planning and Zoning Commission Chair Rick Heumann said he wants to see a state-permitted downtown area ban on political signs in any upcoming code updates. Former state Rep. Jennifer Pawlik said she represents Yes For Chandler and that group endorses proposed changes; she also encouraged city officials to lean on their state lawmakers to push through needed reforms that help municipalities.
Jason W. Brooks News Editor | Chandler Independent
Jason W. Brooks joined Independent Newsmedia, Inc., USA, in July 2021 as an associate editor. After a year covering Buckeye, he has covered Chandler since the fall of 2022, in addition to assisting the Daily Independent throughout his time at INI.
Education: University of New Mexico, bachelor of arts in journalism and mass communication, print emphasis, English minor.
Random Fact: He and his siblings witnessed a Space Shuttle launch and landing in the same year in person, on opposite coasts.
Hobbies: Karaoke, bicycling and American Sign Language.
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