Pickerington Area Taxpayers Alliance

I didn't want this to get lost in the meaningless banter and buried off the page in indented replies.

I was the one who posted the original free speech comment below. The one problem I have with HOA's is their policy towards political signs in private yards. All the other anal policies are fine if you want to beat your chests and measure the grass and check for the right color shingles.

To quote the HOA Trustee ''As for ''Free Speech'', if someone spray painted their favorite candidate on the front of your house, would you leave it because it's ''Free Speech''?''

Someone destroying private property is not free speech. The last time I checked no soldiers from our country died so I, you, or anyone else could vandalize others property.

Hundreds of thousands of our own countrymen and women have died since the founding of this country to keep our right to vote and to enjoy the deomcracy we have here. Voting is not a right - it's an obligation! I believe posting of political signs on ones own property is merely an expression of this God given right and liberty.

You come into my yard, even though I have a HOA and I've received the 'threating' letters in the past, and you take my sign and we'll be having words! You would be trespassing and doing something you have no right to do.

You want me to take down my signs - get out the checkbook and I'll see you in court so they can make me take them down. The next election cycle I'll meet you at the same time and place because people have died that I might have this privilege and my expression of such will not be taken away by you or anyone like you.





By Obi

Obi, My bad on that example

Obi,

I'm sorry I got carried away with my example of free speech by asking about spray-painting on your house and I thank you for calling me on it. Your feelings about your right to display a sign on your yard are reasonable. However, if a candidate draped his red, white and blue banner over an entranceway sign to your subdivision, would you let that pass as ''Free Speech''? If he posted a 5 foot by 7 foot sign, would that be ''Free Speech''? Where should the line be drawn?

By HOA Trustee

Size limits

My view on that is you could limit the size of the sign to the typical size of yard signs and place a time-limit related to how long before an election you can post them. I think most reasonable people can see the logic behind sign limits, and most HOA rules, which as you point out the courts have upheld in the past.

Most people don't want the purple-house next door and they don't want 15' banners flying in the wind proclaiming their neighbor's love for Joe Candidate.

I would imagine your HOA allows realty signs to be posted so people can sell their houses, which they have a right to do. I would also go out on a limb that those signs have size limits and it's not a free for all as to how many and what size you can put up. Participating in the democratic voting process I see no differently than that.

Just my 2 cents.



By Obi

May the Schwartz be with you...

Obi,

The basic problem is in the common areas of a subdivision where signs are posted whether be by residents of the subdivision or drive-by campaign volunteers implies they received permission from the HOA trustees or that the HOA/subdivision supports the candidate/issue by a majority vote or whatever. In our HOA, we can't get a majority of the people to vote on candidates for trustees, dues increases or even if the sky is blue, so when a sign for Joe Candidate is posted on our common property it is based on completely bogus assumptions. Lastly, let me throw this out: What would you think if a member of your church/synagogue/fraternal organization decided to post a sign in the front of the property for a candidate/issue without the support of the organization?

By HOA Trustee