City of Seattle v. Mighty Movers, Inc.

Under a city ordinance prohibiting the posting of signs on city property, the city of Seattle (City) billed Mighty Movers, Inc., for the costs of removing signs it had posted on utility poles. When Mighty Movers refused to pay the costs, the City filed this action to recover them. Mighty Movers challenged the constitutionality of the ordinance under article I, section 5 of the Washington State Constitution. The trial court upheld the constitutionality of the ordinance on the basis that a utility pole is a nonpublic forum, the ordinance is reasonable in light of the purposes of utility poles,…