Trump supporter near Boca told to remove campaign sign

County ordinance says it must come down 10 days after an election.

BOCA RATON — Mike Bagenstos is a big fan of Donald Trump.

The 54-year-old grandfather began backing the future president a year before November’s election, and his support is still visible in a large Trump/Pence campaign banner attached to a fence outside his residence in suburban Boca Raton.

But someone in Bagenstos’ neighborhood west of State Road 7 and south of Palmetto Park Road apparently doesn’t share that enthusiasm for Trump.

Reacting to an anonymous complaint, a Palm Beach County Code Enforcement officer slapped a notice of violation on Bagenstos’ sign Tuesday.

According to the county, Bagenstos is violating the Unified Land Development Code, which states that campaign signs on private property must be removed within 10 days after an election.

If Bagenstos doesn’t abide, the case would go to a special magistrate who could impose a fine of about $50 a day.

“These regulations are black and white,” said Robert Santos-Alborna, director of the county’s code enforcement. “It’s a political sign, and it’s 10 days after the election. We don’t care who anyone voted for. We got a complaint. We responded.”

Bagenstos, who has lived in the home for more than five years, feels likes he’s being singled out.

On Friday, a neighbor directly across the street from Bagenstos also was displaying a smaller Trump/Pence campaign sign. That neighbor has not been cited.

Bagenstos also points to a home a few blocks away on Southwest Sandalfoot Boulevard, where the resident is flying two flags, including one bearing a Ku Klux Klan insignia. A knock at the home’s front door Friday went unan-

PHOTOS BY LANNIS WATERS / THE PALM BEACH POST Mike Bagenstos stands behind a Trump-Pence sign hanging on a fence at his home west of Boca Raton. Bagenstos is upset that the county is ordering him to take down the sign, especially since a neighbor is flying a Ku Klux Klan flag without any...

Confederate and Ku Klux Klan flags fly at a home near Mike Bagenstos’ on Friday. Since they are not campaign signs, they are not required to be removed, the county code enforcement director says.