Schmidt happens
Nevada Senate candidate Gary Schmidt has a new preoccupation—doing something about campaign signs that are posted on public property.
In researching the law, Schmidt learned that when signs on public property are taken down and confiscated, a report must be filed with the county commission. Nevada Revised Statute 405.090 reads, “All patrol officers and maintenance and construction employees of the [state] Department of Transportation shall report any violation … to the board of county commissioners wherein any violation may occur.”
Figuring that those reports would help him learn how extensive the problem is, Schmidt filed public records requests seeking copies of the reports. After some additional back-and-forth, Schmidt sent out a message that included reporters on the mailing list. It read in part, “I have been denied any documentation or written notice in regards to any notice of violations or citations issued for the removal and/or identification of the signs, the disposition of the signs, or any other form of documented proof or memorialization of the fact that I filled a complaint and that it was acted upon. In my verbal complaint, I did request that at a minimum a notice of violation be filed/created.”
That prompted deputy district attorney Gregory Salter, one of the recipients of some of Schmidt's contacts, to bite back: “Sixty three minutes after you left me a voicemail, you went to the press. I didn't even have a chance to look into it and get back to you. How fair is that?”
A response to Schmidt from the Nevada Department of Transportation read, “NDOT does not have any responsive records.”
Schmidt, who is a former member of the Washoe Board of Equalization, found NDOT has a batch of campaign signs removed from city property at its industrial yard behind DMV. They are held there until candidates reclaim them. Schmidt said he was not permitted to inspect or photograph them.