Secretary of State candidate Rutherford: Ordinance is a blow to free speech – political and otherwise

What: Carmel resident Mark W. Rutherford sees political gamesmanship in Hamilton County’s sign ordinance.

Contact: Mark W. Rutherford, 317-809-9000, rutherfordlibertarian@gmail.com

All signs point to political games in Hamilton County

Secretary of State candidate Rutherford: Ordinance is a blow to free speech – political and otherwise

For decades, business as usual in Hamilton County has come to mean restricting anything that the faction in control of the Hamilton County Republican party finds distasteful.

This time, the hideousness comes in the form of small signs in rights-of-way, which the County Commissioners banned in an ordinance passed Feb. 12. Libertarian Mark Rutherford, a Carmel resident and 1978 graduate of Carmel High School who’s running for Secretary of State, sees only one reason that makes sense: Limiting voices for candidates who challenge the Hamilton County Republican Party establishment.

If the ordinance’s purpose was limited to oversize signs in the right of way that block drivers’ visibility, this would be a reasonable proposal. Instead, this keeps families hosting graduation or baby showers from showing the way to their homes in neighborhoods where “the brick house on the right” describes little and even in private places, requires signs to be so small (four foot square or less) to be useless.

If the ordinance’s purpose was about removing yard sale signs once the sale is over, this would be a reasonable proposal. Instead, this prevents families from putting out readily visible signs that promote their yard sales, which also provide our children real-world lessons in entrepreneurship.

If the ordinance’s purpose was to make it harder to buy and sell homes, it does so. This is obviously absurd. Despite the heat of the local real-estate market, the MLS reports that the average time on the Carmel market is 115 days; Noblesville, 101 days; Fishers, 93 days. And while Fishers debt is ($4,249 per capita) and Noblesville’s is ($5,975 per capita), Indiana’s Department of Local Government and Finance lists Carmel’s debt as $1.2 billion ($15,076), the third highest in the state, thanks to rampant spending and grossly inadequate oversight.  All of these cities need more taxpayers buying homes to pay taxes to cover ballooning debt costs. This ordinance will make it tougher for the Hamilton County real estate market and local cities and towns to cover their debts.

Let’s be blunt about what the County Commissioners finds distasteful: Anyone who will challenge them and their faction within the county Republican party.

Restricting political signs for challengers makes it harder for candidates trying to overcome the advantages of incumbency. Republican County Council candidate Rick Sharp is suing the Hamilton County Commisioners about the ordinance, correctly arguing that the ordinance targets political free speech. He repeats what businesses and homeowners in Carmel have said for decades: Showing support for anyone outside of the Republican faction in power leads to retaliation. That’s why challengers resort to the rights-of-way. Property owners are afraid of what will happen if they push back on the Republican faction in power.

Why, when Hamilton County elections for decades have been over by the primary, would this GOP wing care about upstarts? Is the current faction running scared?

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