Sarah Taddeo

@sjtaddeo

Who really owns political signs in residents’ lawns at election time? And when a sign is changed after it’s placed in someone’s yard, is that freedom of speech, or vandalism that should be stopped?

Tough questions for politicians running for office, especially when they helped pay for the signs that have been altered. That’s what went through the mind of Webster Town Supervisor Ron Nesbitt when he uprooted political signs in a village resident’s yard on two separate occasions in October, threw them in his trunk and drove off.

The signs had Nesbitt’s name on them as part of his bid for a sixth term as town supervisor, plus names of three other officials running with him on the Webster Republican Committee ticket.

But the signs looked different in Eric Reynolds’ yard — the village resident had reportedly taped over Nesbitt’s name, which the supervisor saw as an insult to the advertisements he paid good money for.

Reynolds, who runs the Webster Citizen Action League, disagreed with Nesbitt's thoughts on public comment at board meetings and, while he didn't want to support the supervisor on a campaign sign, he felt it was unfair to the other three candidates to take the sign down completely.

The first sign disappeared soon after it was erected — "I was completely astounded that someone would take a sign out of our front yard," said Reynolds. He set up a surveillance camera in his front window, hoping to catch the culprit who might take a second, taped-over sign.

Turns out Nesbitt absconded with both signs, with the second incident caught on video. Reynolds called the police the next day and Nesbitt was eventually charged with petit larceny.

A Irondequoit judge in April gave Nesbitt 24 hours of community service, which he completed at senior centers or events, and an “adjournment in contemplation of dismissal,” meaning his charges will be dropped if he doesn’t get arrested in the next six months.

“You want to deface my name that’s fine, but throw the sign out,” said Nesbitt, who holds to the claim that the signs belonged to the Republican committee, not the Reynolds family.

The Monroe County Republican Committee acts on the assumption that the committee and/or candidates own the signs they erect around town, said committee chairman and Greece town supervisor Bill Reilich, who compared the situation to a real estate agency owning a sign in a property's front yard.

The committee is responsible to get permission from property owners to erect signs, keep signs out of dangerous areas and take them down after elections, he said. An exception would be national campaign signs that residents buy online or elsewhere — residents own those and are responsible for them.

"In the town of Greece, we put thousands and thousands of signs out there, and this is the first time I’ve even seen a situation like this," he said.

In the town of Webster, those who want to erect temporary signs, including political ones, must obtain a permit and remove the signs five days after the election to get their deposit back, said Nesbitt. Also, signs cannot block roadways or driveways.

Neither the village nor town codes have any further instruction as to who owns a political sign once it’s staked into a residents’ lawn.

The Webster Republican Committee buys about 100 signs per year, said Nesbitt, which cost the committee around $1,000 total.

“I still don’t know in my gut whether I was wrong,” said Nesbitt. “While political signs are freedom of speech, I don’t know if he has a right to deface it.”

STADDEO@Gannett.com