JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — A local mayoral candidate is raising questions after a supporter who painted a mural supporting his campaign on their fence received a code violation from the city.
If you’ve driven down San Pablo Road in the past week, a bright painting on a fence facing the street may have caught your eye.
The painting depicts Jacksonville Republican mayoral candidate Ron Armstrong and reads “not bought, not bullied, not backing down.”
“We just thought from a creative way, like what better way than to display something on the fence of a busy road and that’s kind of how we got here,” Armstrong said.
But Armstrong’s supporter, who offered their fence up as a canvas, is now being told to back down by the city.
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Armstrong explained on Thursday the homeowner received a citation from the Neighborhoods Department, giving them three days to take down the painting or face a $250 fine for violating the city’s signage regulations.
But Armstrong said when he asked around city agencies, he couldn’t get anyone to tell him what specific ordnance the painting violated.
“I see this as kind of like, you know, get your stuff together, and if not, there’s some repercussions for it,” Armstrong said.
We reached out to the city and had a little more luck.
According to a city spokesperson, the campaign painting violates several regulations as it’s within 10 feet of a public right-of-way and it’s larger than four square-feet.
There’s also an explicit prohibition on signs being “tacked, tied, pasted, or otherwise placed on a fence.”
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But Armstrong argued the painting is art… Not a sign.
“You look around Jacksonville, you’ve got great murals all over the place. People have things on their fence and we’ve done our research and it’s no different than what they have and they haven’t gotten any fines or violations,” Armstrong said. ”So, we’re just kind of shaking our heads like, is something else going on?”
To avoid any further issues, Armstrong said the plan now is to change the painting.
They plan to keep his name and image on the fence, but will remove any references to his run for mayor.
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