HOLMES BEACH – Police Chief Bill Tokajer reminds everyone that it’s illegal to remove a political campaign sign from someone else’s property.
According to Tokajer, all four Holmes Beach City Commission candidates have had their signs removed.
The four candidates seeking the three commission seats to be filled by the city election that concludes on Tuesday, Nov. 4 are Steve Oelfke, Jessica Patel, Terry Schaefer and Carol Soustek.
Tokajer addressed the missing campaign signs during the Oct. 16 city commission meeting.
“We received a call yesterday about some political signs that were taken from Ms. Patel,” he told the commission.
He also referenced a call he received earlier from Anna Maria Mayor Mark Short while that day’s commission meeting was in progress. Short told Tokajer someone delivered 11 Patel campaign signs to Anna Maria City Hall the previous day and there was surveillance video of the unknown person who did so.
“Every candidate has had signs stolen. That is a crime. It happens every year,” Tokajer.
He also noted the two-year city commission terms set forth in the city charter result in a city election taking place every year. He said the annual election cycles often pit residents against other residents in terms of which candidate or candidates they support.
When contacted the following day, Tokajer said he received and reviewed the Anna Maria surveillance video photographs.
“If we can identify this person, we can find out what their purpose was and where the signs were taken from. Each of our candidates had signs removed by someone unknown, for purposes unknown. If someone thinks a sign is improperly displayed, they need to contact code enforcement for their respective city. Code enforcement will educate the owner of the sign to make sure they are properly displayed,” Tokajer said.
Holmes Beach city code prohibits placing signs on city-owned property and in city-owned rights of way. City code also prohibits placing a sign on a property without the property owner’s permission.
When contacted on Wednesday, Oct. 22, Tokajer said he wasn’t aware of the person in the video and the photographs being identified.
