DOT crackdown on political campaign signs stirs up complaints, fury

The Alaska Department of Transportation seized more than two dozen political campaign signs in Anchorage last week that officials said were illegally placed along state roads and causing safety hazards for drivers.

With the clock ticking to the Aug. 21 primary election, the DOT's move sparked protests from candidates and campaign officials, who described the enforcement as unprecedented and unfair.

They also questioned the timing, with Gov. Bill Walker up for re-election this fall. No Walker signs were seized in the sweep, according to a state inventory. The Walker campaign said it received no advance notice or special treatment but spotted orange tags on the signs and reacted quickly to move them.

DOT spokeswoman Shannon McCarthy said the sweep was motivated not by politics but by a "proliferation" of illegal signs on state roads, despite state and federal laws against outdoor advertising in Alaska. Because of budget cuts, those laws have been little enforced in recent years, though sweeps used to happen more regularly, McCarthy said. She said the department had heard a barrage of complaints from the public this summer, though she didn't have an exact tally.

Read more: https://www.adn.com/politics/2018/08/09/dot-crackdown-on-political-campaign-signs-stirs-up-complaints-fury/