REVERE — First-time candidate Wayne Rose is facing his first test as he seeks a seat on the City Council.
After first being told by the Revere Housing Authority he could place his campaign signs in the public housing development on Cooledge Street where he lives, the agency reconsidered and asked him to remove them.
“It’s a violation of my First Amendment, free speech rights,” he said. “It appears the Housing Authority caved when they received complaints from politicians and candidate committees.”
Rose is one of a dozen candidates running for five at-large slots. The election, Tuesday, Nov. 7, includes incumbents Jessica Ann Giannino, Steven Morabito, George Rotondo, and Anthony Zambuto and challengers Todd Braid, Nicholas Moulaison Sr., David Jose Ramos, Dimple Rana, Michael Zaccaria, John Correggio, and former Mayor Dan Rizzo.
Before putting the signs up on the Revere Housing Authority property last week, Rose consulted Jaclyn Martin, director of housing management, he said, who gave him the green light.
“They gave me permission on Friday and I put up about 40 signs around the property at two developments,” he said. “But Tuesday morning I got a call and letter to take them down. I refused.”
As a result, the authority removed the signs and returned them to him.
James Milinazzo, the Housing Authority’s executive director, said Rose was mistakenly told he could put the signs on the property.
“He did get verbal permission from the authority to put the signs in certain locations,” he said. “But we told Mr. Rose that if we get any push back from our funding agency we may request that he take them down.”
After receiving complaints from other candidates who he declined to name, Milinazzo said he called the state Department of Housing and Community Development (DHCD) for clarification.
“DHCD told me political signs can only be displayed in a tenant’s interior window or spaces where a tenant has exclusive control,” he said. “So we asked Mr. Rose to remove the signs, he didn’t, and our maintenance department did and returned them.”
But Harvey Silverglate, a civil liberties litigator, said Rose would prevail if he took the matter to court.
“That rule prohibiting political signs would be declared unconstitutional,” he said. “It may be permissible for the housing authority to limit the size of the signs or the exact placement, but a blanket prohibition is too broad and too restrictive of speech.”
