Kevin Chambers lives in the city of Bremerton, Washington. To get there from Seattle, the quickest way is by the ferry that goes across Puget Sound. The trip takes about 50 minutes. That may not interest you. The fact that Chambers is a Democrat, and fought the city to keep a Donald Trump yard sign up just might.
Last November, Chambers had a friend who played a prank on him by placing a political yard sign of Trump on his property. He was going to take it down, but then received threats on social media. People were letting him know they were going to graffiti the sign and egg his house. So…Chambers decided to keep the corrugated plastic yard sign up as a matter of principle.
What Happened Next:
Well, the political lawn sign was vandalized after all. Chambers called the friend who had played the initial joke on him. That friend brought over another Trump sign. Chambers, a left-leaning co-host of a local political talk radio show, raised the sign up on stilts 15 feet high to avoid any more damage from the vandals. He was sending a message. Even though he didn’t find the 45th president particularly palatable, he was going to hold his ground and fight for his 1st Amendment rights.
More Trouble with the Political Yard Sign:
Chambers didn’t see that trouble was about to come from a different source. The plastic Donald Trump sign wasn’t getting vandalized anymore, but now it was being ordered to come down. In January, officials made it clear he was breaking a city ordinance by having his sign up at that height. “I have a really hard time understanding how the city would have any jurisdiction telling me what to do with a sign in my yard,” said Chambers. “I could paint my house with Donald Trump colors and the city wouldn’t have an ordinance for that. I believe I could put up a sign even bigger on my roof and the city couldn’t say anything about it.” City Planner Justin Rowland responded, “We’re not saying that based on the content of his sign that he has to take it down, it’s purely that ‘Hey your sign is too high, just bring it down a bit, that way we’re in compliance.” Chambers was not pleased. In his mind, this was his political yard sign, and it was on his property. “Keep in mind, I’m not a Trump supporter,” Chambers said. “I don’t like Trump, but I feel like I’m forced to defend the sign to defend the larger issue.” The only reason the city ordered the signage to be removed was that some neighbor had complained to officials about the sign. Chambers believed there would have been no problem if it had been a Joe Biden or Elizabeth Warren political sign. “We wouldn’t have had to raise the sign if the city of Bremerton were enforcing its graffiti ordinances. If you drive around west Bremerton, graffiti is rampant,” Chambers said. “When we got tagged, the only reason we drove it up was because we were trying to protect it from damage — especially after the threats on Facebook.”
Kelli Lambert, Bremerton’s senior city planner, told Good Guys Signs that the planning commission doesn’t drive around looking for things like this. Their responses are complaint-based.
The Outcome of This Infamous Political Yard Sign:
Well, whad’ya know…the Planning Commission sent Kevin Chambers a notice to the property owner in late December. He acquiesced and took the sign down on January 22nd because of the complaint and the ordinance Bremerton has.