Political sign dispute in Macon-Bibb sparks frustration among candidates

"We don't have super funds. We have family and constituents who have donated to us to get signage. We don't have deep pockets.”

MACON, Georgia (41NBC/WMGT)- With early voting underway in Middle Georgia, a dispute over campaign signs in Macon-Bibb County has caused frustration among some candidates.

Mayoral candidate Shekita Maxwell, and incumbent for District 2 of the Macon Water Authority Board, Desmond Brown, claim their signs outside of the Macon Mall are being removed unlawfully.

“We don’t have super funds. We have family and constituents who have donated to us to get signage. We don’t have deep pockets,” said Maxwell.

According to Georgia code, campaigning is not allowed within 150 feet of the outer edge of any building in which a polling place is established. The Macon Mall is now a polling location, as the Macon-Bibb Board of Elections Office is now located inside the building.

Maxwell and Brown say their signs check off the Georgia code box, but the Macon Mall’s owners, the Urban Development Authority and the Hull Property Group, have decided not to allow campaign signage on the property, superseding the law.

“If Hull Company does not want campaigning here or for us to place our signs, then the Board of Elections needs to move out of this building altogether because that is disenfranchisement,” added Maxwell.

Brown says he originally received permission from the Board of Election in the Macon Mall to place signs outside, but the mall’s owners have since overruled that.

“The current administration is overstepping its boundaries,” he said.

Chris Floore, Chief Communications Officer at Macon-Bibb County Government, released a statement saying, “It is a violation of city code, therefore illegal, to put any signs along the public right of way. We have for several years conducted focused cleanups of any signs littering our right of way and creating a potential safety issue. Any signs on private property should have approval of the property owner, and no campaign signs have been approved for placement on Macon Mall property.”