Ilion law prohibits village from hanging banners. What the mayor had to say on the issue

Ilion Mayor John Stephens is grappling with state and local laws prohibiting the village from hanging banners — while other municipalities do so anyway.

Hometown Hero banners are appearing all over New York, with local veterans displayed for their community to recognize. And while Stephens says he unquestionably supports veterans, he’s unable to hang the banners from a legal standpoint.

“It’s a local law, and it’s the New York State Constitution,” Stephens said.

What does the law say about the banners?

First is the New York State Constitution. Article 8 states: No county, city, town, village or school district shall give or loan any money or property to or in aid of any individual, or private corporation or association.

And on Ilion’s side of things, local law 3-2009, passed in 2009, says no person shall place upon or affix or cause or procure to be placed upon affixed to any sidewalk, hydrant, lamppost, tree, telephone, telegraph or electric light pole or public building in any street or on the public right-a-way or place within the village any words, characters, device, bill, placard, poster, notice, letters, or pictures of any kind as a notice of or reference to any article, business, exhibition, profession, matter, or event of any nature, including political contests.

There’s also a temporary sign clause, saying all signs of a temporary nature, such as political posters, banners, promotional devices and other signs of a similar nature, may be granted a temporary permit for a period not to exceed thirty (30) days, provided that such signs are not attached to fences, trees, utility poles or the like.

With the school group behind the senior graduation banners and the Hometown Heroes banner organization both being private entities, Stephens said they can't legally hang the banners. To do so would mean accepting a loan of property to affix something to a light pole.

And while the village can still attach holiday decorations to the utility poles, those items are owned by the village.

'We knew it wasn’t going to be a popular decision'

“This all started with the senior high school banners,” Stephens said. “We did it last year, not knowing it wasn’t legal, and it was started during the pandemic.”

With pandemic-bound seniors unable to walk down the aisle for their graduation, the mayor said some parents came together to buy and hang banners through the village for their children, featuring their names and faces. It was approved by the board and carried out, but Stephen said that a small group of vocal and displeased parents came out after the fact.

“They were verbally attacking our light department crews and verbally coming after myself and the board, asking why we hung certain banners here or there,” Stephens explained. “It became an issue. We actually had to take down a few banners because parents were so upset. We handed the banner back to them.”

With what happened, Stephens said the board committed to a discussion on the banners, and when the request for students came up for banners again, Stephens did the math.

“It takes three to four days for our people to hang these banners and remove them again, so let’s say a week. That’s almost $30,000 every time someone wants us to put up banners,” Stephens aid. And not wanting to pick and choose, Stephens asked the attorney to look into the banner issue.

“They came back and said we shouldn’t be doing this at all,” he said. “The board talked about it and there’s nothing we could do. We knew it wasn’t going to be a popular decision. And we tried to find alternatives. We thought we could line the parks with the banners. It’d just need stakes instead of mounting brackets.”

But, with the organizers expressing concern the graduation banners would be vandalized or stolen if left in the ground, the village was left at an impasse.

“This isn’t the board coming out saying that we don’t want to support anybody,” Stephens said. “This is a village and state law. We could change the village portion, but that law was put in place to protect our electric employees. And we can’t do anything for the state part. The idea that this village board and I don’t support veterans is idiotic and so out of bounds. My father and my uncle served for 40 years.”

Not all communities have the same local laws

Stephens said two municipalities around Ilion are putting up Hometown Hero banners.

“That’s fine and that’s their choice,” Stephens said.

Utica Mayor Michael Galime was asked about the banners, Galime said nothing came up with the city attorney when it came to hanging their own banners from a state level. But even if that's the case, local laws differ.

"Considering Ilion has a local law that their mayor is referencing, as well as the New York State Constitution, I would hesitate to draw a parallel between Utica and Ilion because it's a different situation," Galime said. "If the Ilion mayor is acting in reference to the local laws in the village, that's something to stand on. And we all don't have the same local laws. And just because Utica is hanging banners and Ilion isn't, I wouldn't use that to attract or detract from the situation."

Another problem Stephens said he faces is the constant scrutiny on the federal money.

“We’re being annually audited due to federal money coming in for infrastructure improvement projects, like the $38 million water project or the $2 million water meter project. We have a lot going on in this village. And if we do this, they’ll ask why we did this.”

And with last year being a year in which banners were hung, Stephens said the village will have to say to the state they weren’t aware and that steps have been taken so it doesn’t happen again.

“The bottom line is, hanging the banners would be a misappropriation of ratepayer funds,” the mayor said.

This article originally appeared on Observer-Dispatch: Ilion Mayor John Stephens speaks on banner legality