Two judicial candidates in Akron are putting homeowners and businesses in violation of city law with each campaign yard sign they stake.

The campaigns to re-elect Akron Municipal Judge Ron Cable and to elect Summit County Councilman David Hamilton to the municipal bench have put dozens of local businesses and residents, including the city’s law director, at odds with a zoning rule that prohibits political signs more than 45 days before an election.

Cable said he was unaware of the rule, which residents say seems to be broken every election with apparently no consequences.

“I did make a mistake and I apologize for that,” Cable said Thursday. “I think we did get a little excited about the campaign this year.”

Hamilton did not return phone calls or an email this week seeking comment. The two Democratic candidates and their Republican rivals Elisa Hill and incumbent Judge Ann Marie O’Brien, along with every candidate on the ballot this November in Akron, were issued letters from Mayor Dan Horrigan's staff 10 days ago. The letter reminded candidates how to place signs so people can see while driving and don't trip while walking, and to wait until Saturday to put them up. The biggest problem, city officials said, is signs put on vacant, abandoned properties.

Cable started putting his signs up nearly two weeks ago in Northwest Akron, where voter turnout is always high. He said he won't put any more up until Saturday. But he won't take any down before then, either.

“At this point, I can’t make any promises to rip down signs and put them back up on Saturday,” he said.

For the past few weeks and months, candidates have gone door-to-door passing out literature and asking permission to stake signs. Most have waited for the right time to return and put them up.

“We’re already behind,” said Art Hill, who is helping with his wife’s campaign.

Two years ago, when she first ran for municipal judge, Elisa Hill's campaign made the mistake of not putting her name on a robocall that went out to voters. The error was “immediately corrected,” Art Hill said. The calls stopped. And a disclaimer was added before they restarted.

The Summit County Democratic Party filed an Ohio Elections Commission complaint anyway. Elisa Hill had to apologize before a panel in Columbus.

Now, Art Hill is upset that Cable and Hamilton are not out removing the unlawful signs. “They’re everywhere,” Hill said.

One big sign, though, has come down: a big red Cable sign that was in City Law Director Eve Belfance’s front yard.

Then Director of Neighborhood Assistance John Valle mailed candidates the advisory on displaying signs. Belfance was copied on the letter.

Cable said the sign came down "immediately." It was up three days after the date of the letter, according to a photo taken by Art Hill.

Today, there are two metal stakes, but no sign.

City rules on signage, which were established in an ordinance passed in 1993, carry fines ranging from $150 to $750 and 60 days in jail, with the most severe penalty reserved for anyone whose signs become litter on public property. But there’s little enforcement for violating the early campaigning prohibition, which is meant to save residents from eternal politicking.

"... Any failure to comply with those regulations would constitute a zoning violation, and enforcement would be against the property owner,” Ellen Lander Nischt, press secretary for Mayor Dan Horrigan, explained in an email.

"There is no mechanism in place under the current laws for the city to cite candidates for violations of the sign code,” Nischt continued. “However, the reality is that political signs are generally controlled primarily by candidates’ campaigns, who often place and remove the signs, as opposed to property owners placing the signs themselves.”

Some homeowners are upset that candidates have created zoning code violations on their properties. Yvonne Kaser, who lives at Seward and Delia avenues in West Akron, said she was impressed that Hamilton personally knocked on her door a couple of weeks ago. She commented on his nice shoes and agreed to let him stake a sign.

"One day, we came out and there the signs were," she said.

Kaser, who is married to a police officer, said she's not looking forward to more signs on Saturday, or the commercials and robocalls that will follow. "If they're not abiding by the law, do we really want to know more about them?"

Reach Doug Livingston at dlivingston@thebeaconjournal.com or 330-996-3792.