Posted on 08/07/2013 6:20:00 PM PDT by 2ndDivisionVet
A Belleville, Illinois business owner was fined $31,000 for posting a political sign inside her sandwich shop.
Dianne Rogge, the owner of Pour Haus, is charged $500 every day she leaves the sign up in her shop.
(VIDEO-AT-LINK)
Sandwich shop owner sues City of Belleville for fines over posted sign
A Metro East storefront is now at the center of a federal lawsuit after city officials told the owner a posted sign was illegal. view full article
KMOV reported:
A Metro East storefront is now at the center of a federal lawsuit after city officials told the owner a posted sign was illegal.
The owner of Pour Haus is suing the City of Belleville after officials told her to take down a sign that sarcastically thanks the city for turning down the her request for tax breaks to start up a sandwich shop.
“You’re allowed to put political statements anywhere you want and this is my business. It’s inside, it follows the sign ordinance, and therefore I’m not breaking any laws. You cannot stomp all over the constitution; Belleville or anybody else,” Dianne Rogge, the owner of Pour Haus, said.
Rogge told News 4, the City of Belleville has fined her $500 every day the sign stays up. The sign was placed in the storefront window on June 5; her fine is up to $31,000.
That’s what the sign has on it: “No TIF For Us.”
Isn’t the issue here the city Nazi’s telling her she is not allowed to put up a sign of her choice in her own business???
A TIF is a horrible thing!
I confess that I don't know what "tax increment financing" is. But the substance of the issue is not the point.
The point is that she has a right to put up the sign in her own establishment, and if the city council doesn't like it, they can go pound sand and eat somewhere else. It's the fine that is the issue.
This is great advertising for her new business.
I won't send her a dime to pay the fine.
Where can I send money to fight the fine?
For information on how to properly interact with government agents, try this brochure I made:
Stop, Drop, and Cower
[Direct Link]
You guess before you clicked. I know I did. But we’re wrong. She’s POed she didn’t get tax breaks to set up her business in the town. While I want taxes of every stripe cut, I’m not sure I agree with her on the sentiment of the sign. Why should she get a break Joe’s Plumbing down the street doesn’t get?
That said, I don’t see how a town can fine her for speech that is obviously political. She’s going out on the > $31K limb because she knows she’ll win in the end.
Yes, it is a different issue.
Sign restrictions in county and municipal zoning ordinances are consistently upheld by courts as reasonable exercises of the police power when applied o protect the public health, safety and welfare. They will even use as a basis: ‘aesthetics.’
Back to the TIF, all I’m saying is that maybe she doesn’t deserve a spot towards the end of Reason magazine if her response to the notice of Ordinance violation is similar to her application for a moratorium on her own property taxes while the surrounding ‘benefit district’ gets their taxes goosed.
You really think Holder’s people will help her? Come on. Look at her picture.
I will send her 100.00 to help pay for her fine. Anybody else in. Lets pay it forward.
A fool and his money are soon parted!....
The last thing local, state and federal givernment needs is more money..
Probably need to get a constitutional lawyer on it, unfortunately, there are none licensed in Illinois (His Arrogance lost his license, but it is immaterial anyway because he taught it but never read or understood it). Best bet is to burn it down, collect the insurance and move to a red state.
Maybe the Dept of Just Us can look into how her civil rights were violated.
I dunno... not sure that as an entity a TIF is a horrible thing, but I have seen some tiff's that were of questionable quality and content...
But why would the city be into giving her a tagged image file anyway?
OK, I'll move on now... ;-)
Stag Brewing at Belleville was one of my old customers way, way back.
I ran into a guy the other day who mentioned he had a pair of Stag kegs at his wedding in St. Louis.
You really think holder would do anything?
Ya mean corrupt courts like Nelson's court and corrupt govenrment prosecutors like Angela Corey?....Those courts? Are you referring to corrupt city governments like Chicago?
Do you support govenrment telling this woman what kind of sign she can put up within her own private businesses?
bump
Here’s the contact information for the various officials in Belleville, IL.
http://www.belleville.net/directory/
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