Houston deputy mayor uproots campaign sign along Parks Highway

HOUSTON — A former Bernie Sanders organizer running for a Mat-Su state House seat says one of her signs was vandalized over the weekend in Houston.

Democrat Patricia Faye-Brazel says Houston deputy mayor Lance Wilson, a supporter of her Republican rival David Eastman, confronted her about the sign. A few days later, Wilson pulled it up and dragged it into the brush along the Parks Highway.

Her campaign sent out a statement Tuesday accusing Wilson of abusing his power as a local official to vandalize the sign.

Contacted Tuesday, the deputy mayor readily admitted to pulling up the sign, though as a private citizen.

The blue sign blocked drivers' view to southbound traffic on the Parks near a stop sign on West King Arthur Drive, Wilson said.

"I didn't feel correct having to be on sign watch," Wilson said. "But it was a safety issue. I asked them to take care of it."

The confrontation is the first in what's been a fairly quiet race for House District 10, which includes parts of Wasilla, as well as Willow, Talkeetna and Houston, a gritty community of about 2,000 that's hoping for financial salvation from the nascent marijuana industry after embracing fireworks stands for the tax revenues.

Eastman toppled conservative stalwart Wes Keller in the August GOP primary, ending Keller's nearly 10-year stint in the House. Faye-Brazel once worked for Sanders in Vermont and was Sanders' appointed designee for Alaska during his presidential bid. She entered the state race in September, replacing Christian Hartley, who withdrew to pursue a position as Houston Fire Chief.

Voters will decide on the seat Nov. 8.

The sign fight illustrates a perennial campaign-season issue as candidates try to give signs prime visibility along highways. Alaska Department of Transportation and Public Facilities officials say it's illegal to place campaign signs or any obstruction in state right-of-ways.

The state enforces the sign policy only when it's brought to their attention, said DOT spokeswoman Shannon McCarthy. Given the state's dire funding situation these days, DOT doesn't have the money in the maintenance and right-of-way budget to actively enforce sign issues.

"We have to concentrate our funding on things that are the most impactful for the public. That comes down to winter road maintenance and pothole patching," she said. "Maintenance is general funded and that's the scarcest dollar these days."

"We would urge candidates to follow the law," McCarthy said.

Eastman, contacted Tuesday, said a reporter's call was the first he was hearing about the issues with Faye-Brazel's sign. Wilson contributed $50 to Eastman's campaign during the primary election, state records show; Eastman said he hasn't talked with Wilson since they saw each other at a city council meeting a month or two ago.

The Eastman campaign has had signs destroyed and knocked over, mostly during the primary, although some incidents are still ongoing, he said.

"I think it is absolutely out of line for someone to take down or damage a candidate's signs that they aren't supportive of," Eastman said.

Faye-Brazel and Wilson told basically the same story on Monday about what happened with that sign on King Arthur Drive.

Wilson called Faye-Brazel while she was working at Mat-Su Regional Medical Center's urgent-care center last Tuesday.

"Someone started yelling at me that I have to move the sign," she said. "I'm like, 'Who is this?' And it was Lance Wilson, the deputy mayor. And I said, 'I'm at work. We'll talk about this later. We'll handle it.' "

Wilson said he waited for Faye-Brazel to take the sign down. A state transportation staffer had told him that "if it was a safety issue, I could take it down on my own if I wanted to," he said. "The state probably wouldn't be able to get around to it."

By Friday, Wilson said, he filed a complaint with the city of Houston. He said he did so as a private citizen, not deputy mayor.

The city's public works director sent the Faye-Brazel campaign an email on Friday to get a permit for the sign and come talk about it. It was too late to file any paperwork, so Faye-Brazel said she called Virgie Thompson, Houston's mayor. Thompson told her it all could wait until Monday.

Wilson was driving to Palmer Saturday morning when he saw the sign was still there, he said. "I couldn't see around it. I uprooted the sign… I just pulled it straight up and I laid it on its side and I went on about my business."

It was late Saturday afternoon, Faye-Brazel said, when she and some campaign workers saw the sign had been flipped over and dragged over toward the grass and birch trees lining the highway. They contend the sign didn't block drivers' views of the highway.

Faye-Brazel said she called Wilson, hoping he'd say he didn't do it.

"He blew up. He was screaming and yelling," she said. "I said, well I talked with the DOT … he said you can call whoever you like. If that sign goes back up, I'm going to take it down again."

She said Wilson supports Eastman but contends the deputy mayor also bears a personal grudge against her over a vote she made while serving on Houston's planning commission against a heavy industrial zone change he supported. She called his behavior intimidating.

Wilson said both of them were angry during the call and Faye-Brazel hung up on him. The planning commission vote "wasn't a consideration," he said.

Faye-Brazel has decided not to post any signs within Houston city limits, she said. "We took the signs down. I don't really think I should go to Houston and ask for a permit. I don't know if Lance is acting officially or unofficially."