Scuffle develops over campaign signs

Kirsten Searer

Friday, June 11, 2004 | 9:33 a.m.

North Las Vegas Police responded on Thursday to a confrontation between state Senate candidate Linda Howard and two men trying to dismantle one of her campaign signs.

No one was arrested, but the two men claimed that one of Howard's supporters threatened them with a knife, said Tim Bedwell, a public information officer for the police.

"There was a confrontation between everybody," Bedwell said of the 7:30 a.m. scuffle. "No one was arrested. However, we took an assault and disturbing-the-peace report."

Howard, currently a university system regent, denies that her supporters had a weapon. Police found no evidence of a weapon but were not given permission to search the cars of Howard and her supporters, Bedwell said.

The battle started several weeks ago, when Howard, a Democrat running in Senate District 4, a seat being vacated by Sen. Joe Neal, D-North Las Vegas, began posting expensive campaign signs at a vacant lot on the busy corner of Martin Luther King Boulevard and Cheyenne Avenue.

Howard, who said she has secured the $25 permit required to post signs in the city, figured it was OK to put signs on the lot because several other candidates had.

But only her signs were being taken. She continued to post them, and in total about 11 signs worth thousands of dollars were taken, she said.

Finally, an infuriated Howard wondered if an opponent was responsible and decided to stake out the corner with supporters late Wednesday night and early Thursday morning.

Around 7:30 Thursday morning, she said she saw men armed with a drill approach one of her signs. Howard, who was parked down the street, and her supporters, who were parked at a nearby gas station, confronted them, Howard said.

Both she and the men eventually called 911. The men claimed that one of Howard's supporters threatened them with a knife. Howard wanted to file her a police report on the thefts.

The men told police that they worked for Becker Enterprises, the company that owns the land. They showed police a list of candidates who their boss had deemed OK to post signs. They were instructed to take down all other signs, Bedwell said.

North Las Vegas requires all political signs to be posted on private property, but candidates should get permission from land owners before posting, said city spokeswoman Brenda Johnson.

"I believe it would be a private matter between the property owner and the candidate if the sign is on there without the property owner's permission," she said.

Howard admitted she did not get permission to post the signs, but she said the company shouldn't have removed her expensive signs without calling her to ask her to take them down.

"I just think it's wrong to be partial, especially when you own a lot of land," she said. "These people own quite a bit of land. When you're partial to candidates in a race, it kind of suppresses people's freedom of speech."

A call placed late Thursday afternoon to Becker Enterprises was not returned.