Nevada County Woman Upset Campaigns Didn't Ask Before Posting Signs On Property

GRASS VALLEY (CBS13) — One Nevada County voter is upset with the onslaught of campaign signs that have been posted on her property.

Teri Neil, 82, says of the dozen or so election signs that were posted on her fence, only one candidate actually asked her permission first.

"I was pissed," she said.

Neil couldn't believe her eyes when she saw the entire fence of a Grass Valley property she owns covered in election signs.

"Every year anytime anybody wants to put up a sign for a craft show, a boat show, they contact and anybody can put a sign up," she said.

She's always happy to help out if someone wants to advertise on her fence, as long as they ask her first.

That why when one candidate asked weeks ago to post his sign, she agreed. But then she started noticing a lot more.

One after another, the signs kept popping up, with even both sides of an issues appearing on the fence.

CBS13 wanted to get answers from the Nevada County Elections Department about whether posting election signs on private property was legal without the owner's consent.

They told us, it's actually considered vandalism, and she could press charges.

But Neil says she isn't interested in that. She just wants common courtesy.

"It's real simple—ask and you shall receive," she said. "They could have knocked on anybody's door and just get my phone number."

Once word started getting out on Monday morning that she wasn't happy, most of the signs that were posted on the fence disappeared on the eve of the election.

State law says political signs may not be in place for more than 90 days before an election and must be down 10 days after. Any signs posted outside that time frame or in a prohibited area will be removed by the Department of Transportation at the expense of the campaign.