Video shows Lacey councilman removing candidate’s sign. ‘That was my mistake,’ he says

It’s a common complaint during election season when, after campaigns have worked hard to dot the area with campaign signs, those signs start going missing or are defaced.

Thurston County Auditor Mary Hall said her office gets calls about campaign signs all the time, and although those caught removing or defacing a campaign sign could be charged with a misdemeanor under Washington state law, it’s typically hard to prove, she said.

However, The Olympian has been given images of it actually happening, and culprits are public officials. A security camera video that was recently shared with the newspaper shows Lacey City Councilman Ed Kunkel removing a campaign sign for District 5 Thurston County Commission candidate Emily Clouse. The District 4 and 5 seats are part of the recently expanded commission.

Also joining Kunkel is fellow councilman Lenny Greenstein. The Olympian was unable to contact Clouse for this story.

Both Kunkel and Greenstein told The Olympian they had received permission this month to put their own campaign signs on a tiny plot of land in front of an espresso stand in the 3000 block of Marvin Road Northeast. But Kunkel admitted that he made the mistake of removing the Clouse sign that was already there.

He said the espresso stand owner called him and explained that Clouse had permission to put her sign at the same site.

“She called me, she was upset and I owned up to it,” said Kunkel, adding that he still had the Clouse sign.

Espresso stand owner Brandee Hay, who has owned the business for three years, said she is a longtime friend of Clouse’s. Clouse asked her about a month ago if she could put a sign in front of the business and Hay agreed. She also agreed to allow Kunkel to put a sign up as well, saying that a Kunkel family member works for her.

Hay also noted there is no connection between the race for Lacey City Council and the Thurston County Commission. Clouse is one of four candidates for the District 5 seat, while there is no primary in the Lacey council races. Both Kunkel and Greenstein are incumbents.

Still, Hay said she was disappointed in Kunkel’s decision to remove the sign. He didn’t ask permission and they didn’t discuss it before it was removed, she said.

Hay believes a candidate with his experience should know better.

“I’m frustrated with his behavior,” she said. Hay also said she didn’t know Greenstein’s sign would be placed next to Kunkel’s.

Kunkel and Greenstein dispute that, saying they had permission to put in posts for their signs, and once the election was over, the espresso stand owner could use the posts for her business signs.

As of Friday, July 21, all of the signs had been removed from the site.

So why did Kunkel remove the Clouse sign?

He said he did it out of “habit.”

Kunkel said there have been other times when a private property owner has allowed he and Greenstein to place their signs in the ground, but the owner also asked them to remove any other campaign signs that were not supposed to be there.

He’s been asked to do that several times, and when he came across the Clouse sign on Marvin Road, he presumed it was a similar situation.

“I’m disappointed,” said Auditor Hall after learning the campaign sign was removed.

“Campaigns should be cordial,” she said. “It’s up to the candidate to convince the voters and it seems a little unethical to me.”