Penndel Solicitor Says Excessive Campaign Signs Were Constitutional

The use of three campaign signs in Penndel Borough caused quite a stir just days before the November 3 general election. Now the borough solicitor is confirming the signs were completely in tune with the law.

Borough resident Lynda Roe claimed just last week that three political signs bearing the name of current Borough Assistant Secretary and defeated council candidate Karen Kondrk were excessively large, exceeding local borough ordinance guidelines by 28 square feet.

While current language within the borough code forbids campaign signage on front yards from being any larger that four square feet, Kondrk’s signs, which were placed on the lawns of two current council members, allegedly measured 32 square feet in size.

According to Kondrk, while a complaint regarding her signs passed her desk the week before, it is not her job to enforce code, just forward complaints along.

Kondrk, who could not be reached for comment when LevittownNow.com first published the issue last week, said she needed to consult with the borough solicitor regarding the law before providing comment. She did eventually provide comment this Monday, which was added to the original story.

Michael Savona, the borough’s solicitor, later sent a letter informing Zoning Officer Sally Bellaspica that the law forbidding certain sizes of campaign signs was unconstitutional and that the law could not be enforced.

Savona stated that regulating the size of political signs was only constitutional if the borough regulated all signs within it’s lines as not one articulation of free speech could be discriminated against based on the content of it’s message.

“The [Supreme] Court held in Reed v. Town of Filbert, Arizona that content-based sign code, which subjected ideological signs to certain restrictions, subjected political signs to greater restrictions, and thus violated free speech guarantees,” Savona noted in his letter.

While the solicitor confirmed Kondrk’s campaign signs could be as large as they want, residents were not happy with the issue, believing Kondrk used her ploy as borough secretary to disregard rules.

“It is a conflict of interest for Ms. Kondrk to be handling a complaint of this nature, she won’t enforce it because she is benefiting from the sign,” said Rich Flanagan, who won a council seat on election day. “This is the latest example of how Penndel has been run, the laws apply to certain folks but not others and their friends.”

The already controversial sign may now be under even further investigation after Councilwoman Barbara Heffelfinger reported the sign on her front lawn was disgraced with a swastika just days before the election. While the vandalism could have political motivations, Heffelfinger was successful in garnering enough votes to win Tuesday’s election. Police told the Bucks County Courier Times they are exploring every possibility in their investigation.