The Real Question is:
When is it right to stop free speech?
Grand Terrace reviews sign limits
"This has been an illegal ordinance for a long time," said Mayor Walt Stanckiewitz of the restrictions.
"I kind of feel like it is my job to keep us from getting sued for stupid things."
The council voted unanimously Tuesday to hold a meeting to decide the issue, which Stanckiewitz said will take place July 26 or Aug. 9.
Based on court decisions since the original city ordinance was passed, three sections that limit political speech more than commercial speech appear unconstitutional, according to City Attorney John Harper.
The proposed replacement ordinance removes restrictions on how long before an election people may post signs about a candidate or issue, previously limited to 30 days.
It also cuts requirements that signs be placed six feet above grade and issued a permit, because the $50 permit fee poses a potential burden.
Signs still cannot be larger than 16 square feet, cannot block the public right of way or "obstruct visibility," and must be removed by 10 days after an election.
But they still can be an eyesore, said Doug Wilson, chairman of the Planning Commission, who voted against the proposed changes when they came before that body.
"I don't think it makes the city a better place," Wilson said.
"(In 2010) I counted, and each candidate had upwards of 250 signs in a 3 1/2 mile area, and you couldn't drive down the street without one smacking you in the face."
The Planning Commission considered the issue in June 2010, after a candidate complained, but the City Council chose not to decide the issue until after the 2010 election.
In the meantime, city officials took no action against those breaking the ordinance, including many who put up signs for Stanckiewitz's mayoral campaign.
Wilson, who ran against Stanckiewitz, said then that posting the signs was "criminal."
Crime and Public Safety, July 14
Resident accused of molesting three kids
A Running Springs man suspected of molesting three children has been arrested, authorities said.
Christopher Mills, 31, was taken into custody by San Bernardino County sheriff's deputies on July 5 at a home in the 22000 block of Newport Avenue in Grand Terrace.
Sheriff's investigators received a report from a Grand Terrace resident that three children in his neighborhood had been molested by Mills. Deputies said they interviewed the children, two age 11 and one age 10.
The children had been molested for five years in Grand Terrace and Running Springs, sheriff's officials said.
Deputies booked Mills into West Valley Detention Center in Rancho Cucamonga in lieu of $500,000 bail.
He pleaded not guilty Friday in San Bernardino Superior Court to 10 counts of having sex with a child younger than 10 and lewd and lascivious acts with a child.
Mills is scheduled to return to court July 19.
