A Belen city councilor said it's time for Belen Mayor Robert Noblin to pay up for leaving his campaign signs up since the 2021 election, a violation of a city ordinance.
The ordinance dictates campaign signs can only be displayed for 30 days before an election and 10 days after. It mandates a $50 fine every day for every sign.
“In this case, he actually has decided not to take it down and it’s racked up to $20,000 worth of fines,” City Councilor Danny Bernal told KRQE News. “The mayor has left his sign up for quite some time since after the 2021 election [in] which he was elected.”
Contacted by KRQE News about his outdated campaign signs, Noblin said only, “There is no comment to be made.” Later he provided a statement to KRQE News, saying there has not been a written citation issued by the city of Belen for his campaign signs.
Belen resident and former mayor Jerah Cordova created a website to show how much money in potential fines the mayor is racking up every day by violating the ordinance.
“It adds up the amount of money he owes to the city of Belen, based on how long the sign has been up and the mandatory $50-a-day fine. It ticks up a cent every 17 seconds,” Cordova told KRQE News.
According to Bernal, Noblin told him he has no plans to take the sign down.
“The mayor has said that one of the reasons why he hasn’t taken down the sign – it’s his First Amendment Rights,” Bernal told KRQE News.
Bernal and Cordova believe that the mayor needs to lead by example.
“The ultimate goal here is to get the mayor to follow the law. The city of Belen has a very clear sign ordinance,” Cordova said.
According to City of Belen’s campaign sign ordinance, "The code enforcement officer shall be authorized to enforce this section by issuing notices and citations to the responsible party and/or the property owner, and shall be authorized to remove campaign signs displayed in violation of the provisions of this section. Upon a finding of violation, the municipal court shall impose a mandatory minimum fine of fifty dollars ($50.00) per sign, per day. Each day of violation shall constitute a separate offense."