Southaven candidate sues over sign rules
A Southaven mayoral candidate is suing the city over its sign regulations, saying the rules put him at a disadvantage in his campaign for the city’s top job.
Tommy A. Henley, who is challenging Mayor Darren Musselwhite and at least one other candidate in the May 2 Republican primary election, charges in the suit filed Tuesday in U.S. District Court that sign regulations, as they pertain to campaign signs, are unconstitutional. He said what he considers onerous requirements make it hard to compete against an incumbent with greater name recognition.
The suit, filed in Oxford, seeks a temporary restraining order barring enforcement of the regulations as well as permanent changes.
Musselwhite could not immediately be reached for comment on the suit, which was filed late in the day. It names the city and its planning director, Whitney Choat-Cook, as defendants. ChoatCook’s duties include enforcement of the sign ordinance.
Specifically, the lawsuit takes issue with limitations on the size, number and style of signs a candidate can have. The suit also questions, among other practices, a requirement prohibiting campaign signs until 45 days before the election.
“This restriction places challengers like Henley at a distinct disadvantage when facing an incumbent, whose name recognition is already greater and who can use his incumbency to generate even more name recognition as he holds rallies and engages in public events as a matter of course,” the suit states.
Henley notes in the suit that 45 days before the May 2 primary election date would be March 18, but that absentee voting begins March 3. “Henley desires to display his signs immediately,” the suit notes.
Henley says his campaign assistant obtained permission for property owners in December to display campaign signs on their property and sought required permits through Choat-Cook’s office.
“Defendant Choat-Cook told Henley’s assistant that the Planning Department was in the process of revising the rules to require that a candidate be fully qualified to run for office before he could obtain a permit for the display of political signs, and they were awaiting the mayor’s signature on the revisions,” the suit says. It charges the sign ordinance “vests complete and unbridled discretion in the planning director, allowing Ms. Choat-Cook free rein to grant or deny permit applications as she deems fit.”
Henley, 49, is one of three candidates who has filed for mayor. The filing deadline is March 3. Henley is seeking elective office for the first time, and he said he decided to seek office because he is “not (in) agreement with the way the city is being run.” His wife, Michele Henley, is a DeSoto County school board member.
Musselwhite is seeking a second fouryear term. In announcing his re-election bid, he cited as his top priorities public safety, economic growth and development, infrastructure improvement and revitalization of the city’s original area along the state line.