TULSA — A Tulsa city councilor’s long-running habit of pulling illegal campaign signs collided this week with a congressional candidate who went looking for the culprit — and found him.
Republican congressional candidate Nathan Butterfield took to social media seeking help identifying who removed his campaign signs, posting photos of a pickup truck and license plate. The posts ultimately pointed to a member of the Tulsa City Council, according to the Tulsa World.
City Councilor Phil Lakin Jr. acknowledged removing the signs and said he was acting within city law, the Tulsa World reported.
Butterfield later said his signs were found bent and discarded in a fire station dumpster, a claim he made in social media posts as he tried to track down who took them.
At the center of the dispute is a 2018 Tulsa ordinance — pushed by Lakin — that classifies certain signs placed in public rights of way, or within 12 feet of a roadway, as litter. That designation allows anyone to remove them without legal consequence, according to the Tulsa World.
Lakin said that’s exactly what he did.
“Most people who know me know that one of my hallmark missions as a city councilor is to free our intersections and streets of litter on a stick,” Lakin told the Tulsa World.
The signs in question were about 8 feet by 4 feet — roughly twice the size allowed under city code — and in some cases were placed on private property without permission, Lakin said.
The encounter didn’t end online.
After identifying the truck, Butterfield confronted Lakin in a parking lot outside his office, where Lakin said he tried to explain the ordinance. Instead, he said, the candidate took photos and accused him of working for a rival campaign.
Butterfield, through a campaign consultant, blasted Lakin as a “liberal council member” more focused on tearing down signs than addressing issues like homelessness.
Lakin, for his part, said politics had nothing to do with it — noting he also removed signs from other candidates in the same area and has spent years clearing what he considers illegal signage across Tulsa.
“I’ve removed thousands, multiple thousands of signs,” he said.
In other words, if it’s planted where it shouldn’t be, it may not be there for long.
The episode underscores a lesser-known reality of campaign season: in Tulsa, yard signs aren’t just competing for attention — under certain conditions, they’re also subject to removal.
Original source: Tulsa World.
