Free Speech Be Damned!

MUSKOGEE, Okla. (AP) The Muskogee Planning and Zoning Commission and the city’s Public Works and Finance Committee this week will consider a possible ban on portable signs in the city.

If both committees recommend such a ban, the Muskogee city council could take up the issue as soon as its November 27th meeting.

Muskogee Mayor Wren Stratton says she thinks the city would look better without the portable signs and a tourism expert who visited Muskogee last spring agrees.

But the owner of a local advertising business is against such a ban. Tim Lipe says about 70 of the more than 100 portable signs he owns are placed in Muskogee.

He says that if a ban is passed the city should compensate him for his loss of business. He says banning portable signs in Muskogee won’t make much difference in the city’s appearance.