Polson city manager Ed Meece found himself in an unanticipated hot seat last week, after both Republicans and Democrats accused the city and each other of confiscating their respective campaign signs.

The issue, he discovered, had to do with a new employee who had worked for the city’s street department under a previous administration, when the policy regarding campaign signs was to remove any that appeared to be in the public right-of-way.

“He was out doing what he does and sees political signs in the right-of-way and starts grabbing these things and putting them in the back of his pickup truck,” says Meece.

Pretty soon, City Hall was fielding calls and emails from representatives of both parties, accusing Meece of voter suppression and tampering with free speech. “They were pretty much convinced the other one was grabbing their signs and the whole time it was a really good street employee who thought he was doing a good thing.”

The city manager met with the employee and code enforcer Tom Mavity, and then dispatched the two to return signs to the appropriate headquarters or campaign coordinator for each party, along with an explanation of what went awry.

Meece observes that the employee was entirely non-partisan in his efforts. “He also grabbed several of the write-in candidate’s signs, so he was not leaving anyone alone.”

Last week, Meece sent out an email to city employees and concerned citizens outlining his administration’s policy on campaign signs.

“If you put up a sign blocking the vision triangle or if it’s creating safety hazards we’ll remove it, or if you put it in front of a city facility we’re going to remove it because we don’t want anybody thinking we’re choosing candidates,” he said. “But outside of those parameters I just want to have a more hands-off approach to political signs.”

For those who want to avoid the public right-of-way altogether, he suggests placing signs on the other side of utility poles or sidewalks from the street.

“This particular city manager’s administration is not interested in grabbing every sign we see as long as it’s reasonably and safely placed and not in front of a city facility,” he adds. “This was a situation where someone was operating off of historical instructions and thought they were doing a good thing – I can guarantee that the city works department clearly understands that (that policy) is history.”

Meece says he also commended the employee for successfully “doing something nobody else has done.”

“You have unified Republican and Democratic parties on an issue,” he told the conscientious worker. “You have managed to bring them together in their joint dislike for City Hall at this point.”