Post no bills, concert fliers, yard sale signs or anything else on the city's utility poles. In Seattle, that's the law.
But this week, a citizens group that contends the 5-year-old law is a violation of free speech took the first step in overturning the prohibition.
Free Speech Seattle won city approval of the wording for a ballot initiative, clearing the way for signature gathering to begin that could place the issue before voters this fall.
Tim Crowley, a 43-year-old hospital employee behind the campaign to reverse the ban, says it hurts the local music industry and robs city residents of public expression.
"Most of the cities in our region don't have bans on postering on poles," said Crowley, who lives on First Hill. "We've used public spaces to advertise and make this a more vibrant community."
Free Speech says it doesn't want to repeal the entire anti-posting ordinance, which prohibits posting on "any traffic control device, utility pole, lamp post, city-owned structure or city-owned tree or shrubbery in any public place."
Instead, Initiative 46 would amend the municipal code to make it legal to post handbills, signs or posters on the city's 250,000 utility poles and lamp posts.
"Nobody wants to get into a situation where we have signs blocking a traffic light or signs on trees. There are elements of the law that are good," Crowley said.
Those who support the existing law say no changes are necessary. The law limits private promotional handbills and garage-sale type posters to kiosks and poster boards, and it carries fines of up to $250 for violators.
Part of a long-simmering battle between tavern owners and city officials, the ban has roots in former City Attorney Doug Jewett's campaign to clean up Seattle. It was enacted in June 1994, after dozens of citizens and businesses complained about unsightly signs on the city's poles. Utility crews also complained that layers of signs made it hard to climb poles, and some workers were injured after slipping on them.
Crowley dismissed the safety fears as a distraction from the ultimate impact of the ban: free expression.
"We think it's a very important free speech issue to be able to freely hang a poster."
Meanwhile, organizers were readying last night to launch the campaign's signature-gathering petition drive this afternoon at 1 p.m. at the Hi Score Arcade at 612 E. Pine St.
Launching the campaign at a video arcade -- as well as seeking out many of the 18,830 signatures needed at area bookstores and nightclubs -- is one way the campaign plans to reach people who are of voting age but not politically active, Crowley said.
"Free Speech Seattle believes that encouraging younger, disenfranchised citizens to vote will have a positive impact on the political climate in our community," Crowley said.