This week Signal Mountain town council candidate Chris Howley and his wife (right photo) took down the campaign banner that has been prominently displayed at SMMHS football field all season (left photo) after being notified it violated county school regulations.
There’s nothing ambiguous about Hamilton County Department of Education’s rule regarding political signs on school property.
“Political signs for people who are running for public office shall not be allowed on school property except those being held by poll workers on election day,” according to the school system’s regulation regarding advertising in the schools.
That came as news this week to Chris Howley, one of five candidates seeking a seat on the Signal Mountain town council, who has had a large banner ad posted the football field at Signal Mountain Middle High School for months.
“The school didn’t endorse me or anything,” he said.
“All I did was buy an ad.”
He paid several hundred dollars to post a banner touting his candidacy on the fence surrounding the football field at SMMHS, Mr. Howley said, and was told by the athletic department there that “any candidate who wanted a sign could have one.”
It never occurred to him to question their word, he said.
At least some of his opponents were never told of that apparent opportunity, however. Incumbents Annette Allen and Susan Robertson, who are seeking reelection, said they weren’t even aware it existed.
“No one offered me the opportunity to advertise at the school,” Annette Allen said. “I’m surprised it could be done. Is it allowed?”
Another opponent, Bob Spalding, said he doesn’t remember being offered such an opportunity but that doesn’t mean he wasn’t.
“I can’t recall as I have been approached with so many opportunities to advertise that I have refused, ignored or forgot that I can’t say who sent me what in the last four months,” Dr. Spalding said. “I focused on my own approach with 42 years of community involvement, word of mouth and relied on my yard signs and a few other media ads.”
Attempts to contact SMMHS officials regarding Mr. Howley’s ad and why it was allowed were unsuccessful. Principal Robin Copp did not respond to questions on the topic.
Hamilton County Department of Education attorney D. Scott Bennett, however, said neither Mr. Howley nor any of the other Signal Mountain town council candidates – or any other candidates, for that matter – should have been allowed to post ads at the school.
However, he said, “I understand from (the principal) Ms. Copp, that there was a banner at the Friday night game endorsing one particular candidate for Signal Mountain Town Council, that the Booster Club apparently hung this banner without checking with the school and that she took it down as soon as she became aware of it.
“I also understand that Ms. Copp has circulated a copy of Hamilton County Board Policy to the Booster Club and the various coaching staffs so they understand the prohibition the Board has adopted regarding political advertising on school property,” he noted.
“As far as the Board of Education is concerned, Board policy prohibits political signs on school property except at designated polling locations during voting hours,” Mr. Bennett said.
“This prohibition extends to the fencing around ball fields,” he added, “which space is often sold by booster clubs as part of their fundraising efforts.”
Mr. Howley, who serves as treasurer of the SMMHS sports boosters club, said he is completely taken aback by the controversy over his sign.
When he decided to run for town council, he said, the football field seemed like a logical place to advertise. “They have over 4,000 people over there every week,” he explained, “and the football program is desperate for money.”
The football club at the school, which operates under the umbrella of the boosters club, sells the advertising on the fence surrounding the field, he noted, so he approached them about buying an ad.
“They said the rule was that candidates could advertise as long as the same opportunity was available to all candidates,” he said, so he forked over several hundred dollars and put up his ad.
His opponents could have done the same thing, he said.
Although the ad has been up during the entire football season, he noted, it was not until earlier this week that he got a call from the athletic department telling him that there had been a complaint regarding the ad and that “we had to take it down.”
He and his wife went to the school that same evening, he said, and removed the sign.
The fact that the complaint – presumably, from his opponents – came so late in the football season, he said, highlights one of the reasons he decided to run for town council: The current town council members are out of touch with Signal Mountain ’s young families and their concerns.
“I mean. the ad has been there during the entire football season where thousands of people could see it, and they just now became aware of it,” he said. “If they were really in touch with what was going on, they would have complained about it way back in September.”
Mr. Howley’s opponents, however, apparently were far from the only Signal Mountain residents unaware of the expensive advertising banner’s existence.
For example, Mr. Bennett, the attorney for the school system, said he never saw the sign despite regularly attending football games at the school.
In addition, he said, “I asked my wife and children about them last night, and no one recalls having seen any signs.”
A number of other football fans who said they regularly attend SMMHS games also said they never noticed the ad. “Sounds to me like he wasted his money,” one joked.