Seattle's poster police struck a blow for clean utility poles yesterday when the city filed a lawsuit against a moving company for alleged repeated violations of an ordinance outlawing signs on city poles.
The suit filed by City Attorney Mark Sidran seeks to collect almost $7,000 in fees and costs for the removal of 132 Mighty Mover Inc. signs posted on poles around town over four months.
The ordinance, adopted in 1994, forbids posting of signs on poles and assesses a $53 fee per sign. It was enacted "to reduce the risk to line workers in scaling poles studded with nails and staples," according to a statement issued by Sidran's office.
"To date, Mighty Movers has been one of the most prolific violators of the ordinance and has failed to pay any of the sign removal fees."
Mighty Movers did not respond to requests for comment.
But Beth Fell of Free Speech Seattle, which is gathering signatures for an initiative to overturn the ban on posting fliers on utility poles, yesterday called the lawsuit "typical Sidran."
"He doesn't believe in free speech for people . . . that have to live in the workaday life of Seattle. He just sits up in his office and makes rules for folks like us," Fell said.
"We feel everyone has a right of free speech. And because some people like Mighty Movers take advantage, it really shouldn't affect the rest of us that want to promote a show, advertise a garage sale or find a lost pet."
Sidran noted yesterday that while he supports the ordinance, he took no active role in proposing it.
"I am enforcing an ordinance, which is part of my job," said Sidran. "I happen to agree with the policy behind it.
"This is not about free speech. This is about free advertising on city poles."
Fell sought to debunk the notion the ordinance is designed to protect electric workers, saying her organization studied Seattle City Light safety records and found the safest year ever was the year before the ordinance went into effect.
Sidran responded by saying: "I don't climb telephone poles myself, but I do respect the opinions of those who do. And the city's line workers have consistently said that this postering is a safety problem for us."
This is the 10th lawsuit filed by the city to enforce the ordinance. One case challenging the constitutionality of the law has failed at the Municipal and Superior Court levels and is pending before the state Court of Appeals, said Sidran.