Political Campaign Sign Information

As another municipal election approaches, we would like to remind all candidates for City of Tempe political offices of the rules that apply to political signs.

The following guidelines do not address every conceivable situation involving political campaign signs. For this reason, we appeal to all candidates and campaign workers to please use common sense, respect and restraint when dealing with campaign sign issues.

For all complaints related to political campaign signs, please call the City of Tempe Commercial Code Compliance complaint line at: (480) 350-8310.

Political signs shall be located so that they do not create an immediate traffic or safety hazard.

Examples of such hazards include: interfering with visibility at intersections or driveway entrances, interfering with pedestrians, or impeding bicycle or wheelchair access along sidewalks or multi-use paths.

No political signs shall be affixed to City of Tempe property; except under specific circumstances at polling places on Election Day.

Political signs cannot be placed, mounted, installed, leaned against, or attached in any other way to city property, even temporarily.

(For additional information, please see "On Election Day" section below.)

Political signs should remain within established Free Speech Zones, where applicable.

Free Speech Zones have been established at the following City of Tempe facilities: the Tempe Library, Pyle Center, Kiwanis Park Recreation Center, Diablo Stadium, Ken McDonald Golf Course, and Rolling Hills Golf Course. The carrying of signs and the exercise of expressive activity should be conducted within the boundaries of the established zones at these facilities.

No political signs are allowed within the City of Tempe right-of-way.

For purposes of these guidelines, city right-of-way means the outer edge of the sidewalk on one side of a street to the outer edge of the sidewalk on the other side of that street, including all parkways and medians in between.

Political signs may be located on private property ONLY with the property owner’s permission.

Enforcement of political signs located on private property will be the responsibility of the candidates and the associated property owners.

No permits are required for political signs.

No political signs are allowed within 75 feet of any polling place on Election Day or the Early Voting Site at the Tempe Public Library.

Enforcement of the 75’ rule at polling places will be the responsibility of the election workers at each polling location.

All political signs must be removed within ten days after the election.

PROCESS WHEN A CAMPAIGN SIGN COMPLAINT IS RECEIVED:

All complaints regarding political campaign signs should be directed to the City’s Code Compliance complaint line at (480) 350-8310. Any questions regarding political campaign signs should be directed to Jeff Tamulevich in the City’s Commercial Code Compliance Office at (480)350-8441. Other city staff will be informed of signs issues by Code Compliance staff, as needed.

The City of Tempe will make reasonable efforts to enforce campaign sign policies. Please understand, however, that there may be times when other priorities may prevent an immediate response to a non-emergency political sign complaint.

If a political sign is in the right of way or in other areas creating an immediate traffic or safety hazard, it will be immediately removed by city staff and the campaign will be immediately contacted and advised of the removal.

When a legitimate political sign complaint is received, the candidate’s campaign will be contacted by city staff and given an opportunity to quickly respond to the situation.

If the campaign sign situation is not corrected within one hour, the sign will be removed by city staff and the candidate’s campaign will be contacted and informed of how and where to retrieve the sign(s).

To enhance our efforts to contact a candidate/campaign in the event of a campaign sign issue, each candidate should immediately provide the Tempe City Clerk with the name and phone number of the campaign representative who will be responsible for campaign sign issues 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

ON ELECTION DAY:

The following additional guidelines apply to political campaign signs ON ELECTION DAY ONLY.

Political campaign signs are allowed at polling places located on City property on Election Day, but ONLY if the signs:

  • are not in the city right-of-way; and
  • do not create an immediate traffic or safety hazard; and
  • are located outside of the designated 75’ zone.
    •

    Thank you for your cooperation and leadership in abiding by the City of Tempe’s political campaign sign policies.

    POLITICAL CAMPAIGN SIGN CONTACT PHONE NUMBER:

    For all questions related to political campaign signs, please contact Jeff Tamulevich in the City of Tempe’s Commercial Code Compliance Office at: (480) 350-8441.

    For all complaints related to political campaign signs, please contact the Commercial Code Compliance complaint line at 480-350-8310.

    PLEASE FILL OUT FOLLOWING INFORMATION FORM AND RETURN TO THE TEMPE CITY CLERK’S OFFICE AS SOON AS POSSIBLE. YOU MAY DROP THE FORM OFF AT THE CLERK’S OFFICE ON THE SECOND FLOOR OF THE TEMPE CITY HALL, OR FAX THE FORM TO US AT (480) 858-2012.

    PROSPECTIVE CANDIDATE INFORMATION

    NAME: ______________________________________________________

    ADDRESS: ______________________________________________________

    PHONE: HOME - ____________________________________________

    WORK - ____________________________________________

    MOBILE - ____________________________________________

    FAX - ________________________________________________

    E-MAIL: ______________________________________________________

    CAMPAIGN WEBSITE: ________________________________________________

    CAMPAIGN MANAGER: ________________________________________________

    PHONE: HOME - ______________________________________________

    WORK - ____________________________________________

    MOBILE - ____________________________________________

    FAX - ________________________________________________

    CAMPAIGN SIGN ISSUE CONTACT*: _____________________________________

    PHONE: ____________________________________________________________

    *This should be someone who is available at all times (including early mornings, nights and weekends) for City staff to contact if a campaign issue arises.