The Libertarian Party of Morgan County set up a booth at the 2021 Madison Township Freedom Festival. We had a great time meeting people, telling them about our party, and giving the World’s Smallest Political Quiz.
It turns out that Madison Township might be a little Libertarian! We are not as divided as they tell us we are.
Our own Kristin Alexander talks about blood orange bourbon and issues facing Madison Township and Morgan County on the Cajun Libertarian.
If you missed it live, you can still hear her praise our MCLP and challenge former Vice Presidental Candidate Spike Cohen and local podcaster Chris Spangle on The Cajun Libertarian’s YouTube channel.
The Mooresville Town Council recently refused to correct a flawed system. On June 10th, the council chose not to bring consistency, clarity, and definition to the existing sign ordinance, which, as written, allows them to discriminate against groups like the Libertarian Party at will. Instead, a measure that would have equally applied the provision to all residents was introduced but didn’t receive a second.
The fight continues – learn more at: http://morganlpin.org/signs/
MOORESVILLE — An amendment to the town of Mooresville’s Unified Development Ordinance (UDO) died Tuesday night after it failed to receive a second to councilman Dustin Stanley’s motion for approval.
Stanley said that the amendment went before the Mooresville Plan Commission on June 10, which submitted several recommendations back to the town council.
Members of the public were given an opportunity to speak on the amendment.
Mooresville resident Dave Snyder said his understanding of the amendment would allow signs to be placed in public areas.
“If that is the case, well, I think it would be visual clutter,” Snyder said.
Snyder added that he recently had a friend travel through Plainfield who commented on the lack of signs in that town.
“They’re not attractive, they may be a safety issue,” Snyder noted.
Mooresville resident Danny Lundy spoke in favor of the amendment.
He told the council that he favors the amendment because it removes the need to ask permission by the town to place signs in rights-of-way.
“It allows a governing body to say yes to some people, and no to others,” Lundy said.
Lundy also noted that the UDO already has a provision that allows for signs that are causing safety issues to be removed.
Ultimately, Stanley made the motion to approve the amendment.
However, no councilman seconded the motion, so it died.
The Old Settlers Parade will return this year, after being cancelled in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The route, however, will change from previous years.
This year, the parade will leave Mooresville High School and travel west on Carlisle Street to Monroe Street, Monroe Street south to Washington Street, Washington Street east to Indiana Street and then Indiana Street north to the high school.
Town Council President Tom Warthen asked if Monroe Street was too busy of a roadway for the parade to travel on.
“We will be able to cut them off at County Line (Road),” Mooresville Police Chief Kevin Julian said. “I plan on posting somebody up at County Line to divert traffic up there once we close that section of the parade route.”
Members of the council approved parade route unanimously, 5-0.
The council awarded Miller Pipeline the sewer pipe lining project after it submitted the low bid of $147,400.
It began the process of awarding ReConserve a tax abatement.
Members also approved a waste water treatment plant evaluation agreement with Sedgwick Valuation Services for $3,500.
~ By Lance Gideon | Reporter | Published June 17, 2021 in The Mooresville Times
MOORESVILLE — The placement of signs was the only topic of discussion Thursday night at the monthly meeting of the Mooresville Plan Commission.
For more than a year, town officials and political leaders have been talking about the placement of signs in town rights-of-way.
During the 2020 Primary Election campaign cycle, political signs were removed from several areas of town property that had historically been used for advertising.
This included an island near the intersection of Indianapolis Road and Samuel Moore Parkway, as well as strips of grass in front of many local resident’s homes.
Back in May, Mooresville Town Councilman Dustin Stanley presented an amendment to the town’s Unified Development Ordinance (UDO) to clear up some of the issues related to signage.
Stanley was a member of the council back in 2019 when the current UDO was approved.
Under the amendment, small yard signs like those often seen during an election cycle would be allowed ““in a right-of-way adjacent to private property that is maintained by that property owner or tenant and placed with permission of that owner or tenant.”
Governmental units like the parks or police departments could also place signs on property owned by the unit.
But, signs would be banned from features such as town-maintained flower beds and planters.
A public hearing on the amendment was held during Thursday’s plan commission meeting.
Libertarian Party of Morgan County Chairman Danny Lundy told the commission that he was present to speak in favor of the amendment.
“I think it addresses a lot of the flaws with the UDO while also keeping the intent, which was for the town to get rid of abandoned signage,” Lundy said.
Jessica Newman-Hoyt also spoke in favor of the amendment.
Newman-Hoyt said that the town “attempted” to remove a sign in a right-of-way near her home.
“(The sign) was in the landscaping beneath my mailbox,” Newman-Hoyt said.
She told members of the commission that the sign had been in the same spot for more than a year.
“It was a ‘Just Be Kind’ sign,” Newman-Hoyt added.
In her opinion, while the town owns the strip of grass near many residents’ homes, the homeowner should be able to place signs there because they maintain the land.
Eventually, Lundy returned to the microphone to express some of his concerns with the UDO as it currently stands.
Lundy noted that the town council has approved a large sign to be placed in an island near the intersection of Samuel Moore Parkway and Indianapolis Road.
The Mooresville Parks Department was allowed to place a moveable-letter sign and a local sorority was given permission to place signs at the intersection, according to Lundy.
“The fact that you have to ask permission to begin with, Indiana state law also says you can’t discriminate based on content,” Lundy said.
He also added that the sign UDO is not being equally enforced on everyone.
“It is being enforced on signs they don’t like,” Lundy said. “And that is the problem.”
Mooresville Plan Commission Mike Young, after a lengthy back-and-forth discussion between Lundy and commission members, presented some suggestions that it could send to the town council.
The commission, Young noted, would like clarification on an application process of where an individual wanting to place a sign can ask permission in Mooresville.
Young said there also appears to be “gaps in the written requirements” in the UDO as it presently stands.
The commission also wants to make sure that the enforcement of the UDO as it pertains to signs is not discriminatory.
At the end of the meeting, the plan commission approved a motion to send the amendment back to the council to be rewritten to address the concerns that were brought up during the public hearing.
The plan commission will then, once those concerns are addressed, entertain the changes to the proposed amendment.
The motion was approved unanimously, 6-0.
While the plan commission can give either a favorable, unfavorable or no recommendation to the council, it is ultimately up to the town council for a final vote.
After the meeting was adjourned, and members of the public left the room, plan commission members continued to discuss the topic.
The discussion continued for at least an additional 19 minutes on a hot microphone that was broadcast to the town’s YouTube channel.
During that discussion, several members of the plan commission could be heard speaking about the matter in question.
However, due to a glitch on the video, it is unknown if a quorum of members was still present during the post-meeting discussion, but the audio can still be heard.
The next meeting of the Mooresville Plan Commission is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. on Thursday, July 8, at the Mooresville Government Center, 4 E. Harrison St.
~ By Lance Gideon | Reporter | Published June 10, 2021 in The Mooresville Times
| Jennifer Meador of Mooresville has been appointed to the Mooresville Board of Zoning Appeals. Jennifer has an associate degree as a paralegal and a background working for the Marion County Prosecutors Office. She also serves as Policy Director for the Libertarian Party of Morgan County. Jennifer stated that she is “looking forward to serving her community and helping the town reach its peak growth and potential.” She is the 3rd Libertarian to serve in an appointed position in Morgan County. Jennifer joins Anna Elliott who currently serves as the vice-chair of the Martinsville Board of Zoning Appeals. Danny Lundy, Libertarian Party of Morgan County Chair said, “This is great news for Mooresville. Jennifer’s legal background, research skills, and attention to detail will serve her well on the BZA. She genuinely loves serving her community. We are very proud to have her join the ranks of Libertarians currently serving across Indiana.” |
In honor of the National Libertarian Day of Service, 18 people came out to be a part of The Libertarian Party of Morgan County’s team on Mooresville Clean-Up Day!
In total, about 75 people showed up to be a part of this event to make our town a more beautiful place.
Thanks to everyone who helped!
MOORESVILLE — For more than a year, officials in Mooresville have been talking about signs in town rights-of-way.
Last year, yard signs started to be removed from town rights-of-way.
These signs included campaign signs as politicians were out barnstorming for votes in the 2020 Primary Election.
Back in 2019, the town’s Unified Development Ordinance (UDO) was updated and notes that signs can’t be installed in public rights-of-way “unless specifically authorized by the legislative body or their designee.”
Mooresville Town Councilman Dustin Stanley, however, is hoping to amend the UDO as it pertains to signage.
Under Stanley’s amendment, small yard signs would be permitted “in a right-of-way adjacent to private property that is maintained by that property owner or tenant and placed with permission of that owner or tenant.”
It would also allow yard signs to be placed by a governmental unit, like the town’s park system, in property that is governed by the unit.
The yard signs would be allowed to be up for no more than 60 days under Stanley’s presented amendment.
The amendment, though, would ban signs from being installed in a “publicly owned or maintained landscape feature.”
Those landscape features include flower beds and planters.
Earlier this week, Stanley — who served on the council when the original UDO was approved — said that the ordinance was never intended to be used as it has been over the last year.
“Unfortunately, it is so blanket and just vague enough that it can be used, apparently, for ‘no signs in Mooresville,’” Stanley said.
“It was basically intended for if somebody put out a sign and left it there for months on end, we had the authority to pull it after it had run its course,” Stanley noted.
Stanley noted that he voted in favor of the UDO in its entirety at the time.
~ By Lance Gideon | Reporter | Published May 28, 2021 in The Mooresville Times
** You can read the proposed ordinance here
Until Mooresville stops banning people from putting a “Just Be Kind” sign next to their mailbox or putting “Slow, Children at Play” signs by the street in front of their house, it cannot claim to be a “First Amendment Sanctuary.” In fact, for the last year or more, the First Amendment has been under assault by the town of Mooresville.
In March of 2020, the town of Mooresville ordered that all political signage be removed from areas that had traditionally held signage of many types. We were told we’d have to “ask permission.” Meanwhile, some signs were targeted for removal while other candidates’ signs were not. We were eventually denied our request to place political signs in these historically acceptable places. It should be noted that while other requests to place signage were approved, political signage was the ONLY request to be denied by the town of Mooresville to date.
Furthermore, signage of many types, including political, “Just Be Kind” and “Children at Play” signs, were taken right out of people’s front yards. They were told they don’t own that little bit of land between the sidewalk and the street, and therefore aren’t allowed to put signs there. Of course, there were disparities there as well.
Some candidate signs were removed, while neighbors a few doors down with different political views were allowed to keep their signs in that strip next to the road. The U.S. Constitution, the Indiana Constitution and state law prohibit any government entity from suppressing freedom of speech. They cannot pick and choose which signs are allowed based on content.
There have been dozens, if not hundreds, of signs placed without asking permission from the town. These signs were not taken down, nor have they had defamatory statements made about them by town council members. Clearly there is only one kind of temporary sign being placed that the town is worried about. Doing an occasional purge of other signs on rare occasions when it’s brought up that the town isn’t treating people equitably doesn’t seem like a sound policy.
We attempted to address these concerns with the council, and we were met with open and outright hostility. We were told we need to “obey the will of the majority.” Ben Franklin described that as “two wolves and a lamb voting on what they are going to have for lunch.” The Bill of Rights was crafted specifically to protect the minority from the tyranny of the majority.
Based on the support we’ve seen, most people in Mooresville don’t want an overreaching town government acting as an HOA, and telling people what they can and can’t put in their front yard or in front of their business.
There is an amendment to the UDO that would correct the sign issue and address some of the concerns that likely led to this bad law being drafted to begin with. Here’s what it proposes:
There is a section of the UDO that names certain types of signage exempt from the sign rules elsewhere in the UDO. Some on the council have argued that it was never meant to apply to yard signs, but it doesn’t say that. So, it clearly defines “Yard Signs” as any temporary sign less than 16 square feet and weighing less than 25 pounds. For example, a double-sided 2.5-foot-by-3-foot sign would be 15 square feet.
Temporary signage over 16 square feet or over 25 pounds would not be exempt and would then need to go through the permitting process. This is recommended to make sure it’s not a safety issue but the fee for such a sign should be as low as possible — $5 tops.
Some signs are left out for far too long and look bad after a while. So, it puts a 90-day time limit on it. Political signage is already restricted to 66 days by state law and most signs are seasonal anyway. Three months should be plenty of time for summer concert signs, Bible camp, little leagues, Christmas light shows, etc.
Because it has been argued that part of your property isn’t really YOUR property, it puts in a provision that defines it as personal property for the purposes of temporary sign placement. Please, go put your “Just Be Kind” signs and your “Slow: Children at Play” signs out by the mailbox again. This concept is also applied to various government properties. If the police station wants to put out a sign on the PD lawn, they should be allowed to do so without asking permission. Ditto for parks, fire, etc.
It also protects our manicured landscaping, too. We should not allow signs of any kind in town-maintained flower beds, flowerpots, mulched areas and things like that. Our street department works hard to maintain those areas, so let’s keep them clear.
Finally, it’s burdensome and overreaching to have anyone be forced to ask permission from the government to place a temporary sign. That’s just asking for discrimination to happen. Much like now, if they tell everyone else “yes” and then tell one person “no,” well, that’s not fair or equal treatment, is it? It resolves that problem by eliminating that requirement entirely.
This amendment has been on the table for months, but some refuse to consider it or even read it. This is a good compromise that addresses everyone’s concerns, but so far has been unable to get any traction. Legal action is a last resort and not something we should have to do to ensure First Amendment rights in Mooresville. Thus far, the town council seems extremely reluctant to give up the power to ban speech they dislike — which is a good reason why they shouldn’t have it.
You can help by going to LPIN.org/mooresville-sign-ordinance/ and sending an email to the members of the town council, board of zoning appeals and planning commission to express your support for this amendment to fix the sign ordinance.
~ By Danny Lundy | Guest Column | Published May 11, 2021 in The Mooresville Times
** You can read the proposed amendment here
INDIANAPOLIS — Indiana’s top elections official has acknowledged violating state political fundraising rules with the launch of her 2022 election campaign.
Republican Secretary of State Holli Sullivan requested contributions as she announced her campaign Monday — five days earlier than allowed under changes to state law signed by Gov. Eric Holcomb that day.
Sullivan, who was appointed secretary of state by Holcomb in March and is vice chair of the Indiana Republican Party, said she was seeking a full four-year term to “defend the integrity of Indiana’s elections.”
State law prohibits candidates for state offices from fundraising during the legislative sessions when the two-year state budget is drafted. Lawmakers extended their meeting deadline from the typical April 29 until November so they can return to approve new election districts.
“The Committee to Elect Holli Sullivan has determined that it made an improper solicitation of campaign funds,” Sullivan’s campaign said in a statement. “These public solicitations have been removed and all contributions have been returned.”
State Libertarian Party Chairman Evan McMahon said “If you are vying to be elected to head the office that oversees elections and enforces campaign finance laws it would probably be a good idea to not break those laws.”
~ From the Associated Press| Published April 30, 2021 in The Reporter Times
