Trump sign raised on stilts to escape vandals now violates code, Washington city says
The yard of a self-described Democrat is an odd place to find a large Trump 2020 sign.
But after a Republican friend left the sign in front of Kevin Chambers’ Bremerton, Washington, home as a joke in November, it became a lightning rod for neighborhood critics — despite the fact that Chambers doesn’t support Trump. Chambers shares his left-leaning views as co-host of the political Outlaw Radio Network show that airs 8-11 p.m. Sundays on 1400 AM in Kitsap County and 920 AM in Thurston County.
Harsh criticisms and threats drove Chambers to leave the sign where it was, he said.
“A guy was seen in one of the local community Facebook groups … trying to rally people behind him to go to the house, tear down the sign, egg the house,” Chambers said in a phone interview with McClatchy News. “My original plan was to leave the sign up for like a week and take it down. But after I read him trying to egg on people, I decided I was going to leave the sign up.”
Then came the vandalism: Chambers said the 4-foot-by-8-foot sign was tagged with spray paint graffiti several weeks ago, prompting him to call the Republican friend who put it up.
“I expected him to want to take it down — but instead, he brought another sign and we went ahead and raised that sign so now it’s 15 feet above the ground,” Chambers said. “We mounted a trail cam so if anyone does anything with the sign, we’ll have it on the trail cam.”
But now the elevated Trump sign faces a new threat, the Kitsap Sun reports. Responding to a complaint lodged in mid-December, Bremerton officials have notified Chambers that his sign is perched too high above his yard and violates city code.
“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,’” city planner Justin Rowland said, according to the newspaper.
Chambers questioned the city’s reasoning, suggesting the sign has turned into a First Amendment rights issue.
“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,” he said. “I could paint my house with Donald Trump colors and the city wouldn’t have an ordinance for that. I believe I could put a sign bigger on my roof and the city couldn’t say anything about it.”
KING5 reported that the “letter from the city said he had until January 21 to make adjustments or face ‘penalties and fees.’”
Chambers said the only reason the city got involved was because of the complaint. The city doesn’t going around looking for violations, he said, instead enforcing code based on reports from the community.
“One person got some flies in their bonnet about the fact that it was a Donald Trump sign,” Chambers said, adding that he doesn’t think this would have happened “if this were a Biden sign or a Warren sign or a giant sign of my friend Ian’s cat.”
Chambers’ sign has made waves in local media, with radio outlets, TV stations and more requesting interviews, Chambers said.
“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.”
A Seattle-area radio station host also went after Bremerton officials for the enforcement action.
“It’s also against the law to vandalize people’s property — where were you when that was happening?” KVI radio’s John Carlson said on air.
Chambers echoed that sentiment.
“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.”
Chambers sees the dust-up over the sign as the result of a breakdown in communication among people with differing political views.
“The thing I love most about my radio show is: I’m on the left, I’m a Democrat; My co-host is a Republican, he loves Trump,” Chambers said. “We get to have the conversation every week that nobody else is having.”
Chambers said that kind of dialogue is harder today when people segment themselves on Facebook and block out people they disagree with, whereas he engages weekly with people from different viewpoints on his show.
“We respect each other — and I think that’s what’s gone out the window,” he said. “We should just be able to let people have their own beliefs. We don’t have the debate anymore. We don’t have the discussion. It’s name calling from behind the keys of a message board.”
So what’s next for the sign?
Chambers said he plans to reach out to city officials this week to figure out how to move forward.
“This may be as simple as having the city come out and inspect,” Chambers said, even though “I think this is a waste of their time and energy.”
This story was originally published January 7, 2020 at 3:35 PM with the headline "Trump sign raised on stilts to escape vandals now violates code, Washington city says."
