McKee’s ‘trash’ post on Yountville’s town fix-it portal pictures rivals’ campaign signs
Yountville Town Councilmember Robin McKee, who is seeking reelection, submitted a complaint through the town’s service-request portal, asking for “trash” to be removed, attaching photographs of campaign signs for a council race opponent, Hillery Trippe, and mayoral candidate Joe Tagliaboschi.
The SeeClickFix portal displays an Oct. 2 submission date and lists the report under “Sidewalks, Streets, Street Lights, and Signs.” McKee identified locations along California Drive, near its intersection with Washington Street and near artwork on Washington Street. Four attached photographs depict Trippe and Tagliaboschi campaign signs.
The complaint prompted Public Works Director and acting Town Manager John Ferons to respond that town staff would visit the locations to assess whether trash removal was needed. The request was assigned to town employee Jacob Solis.
The pictured signs posted by McKee appeared to be on the property of Gary Jabara, owner of The Estate Yountville and the Yountville Sun, and Jabara responded to McKee’s complaint in an Oct. 3 comment on the portal. Calling the post disparaging of the candidates, he observed that elected officials should maintain a higher standard in their treatment of opponents.
“Elections should be a contest of ideas, records, and vision, not an exercise in humiliation and name-calling,” Jabara wrote. “Those who seek the privilege of public office should understand that how they treat their opponents is every bit as revealing as what they promise to the residents and veterans of Yountville. Yountville deserves a higher standard. And perhaps the best response to this kind of ignorant rhetoric is simply to let it speak for itself.”
McKee replied some 10 minutes later, saying her complaint concerned nonrecyclable plastic signs located off town property that were not arranged neatly in accordance with what she described as the town’s preferences. “You will recycle all those signs after the election won’t you?” she asked Jabara in her publicly posted response.
An initial acknowledgment posted under Ferons’ account said the concern had been forwarded to the appropriate team, in a message signed by town staff member Jason Bernard. A subsequent message under Ferons’ name said staff would assess the locations.
On Oct. 4, Ferons’ account marked the request closed. The public thread contains no inspection findings, no citations of a sign violation and no explanation of whether staff removed or moved any signs.
The Yountville Sun asked Ferons about the complaint, and he responded via email on Oct. 7 that the Yountville Public Works staff had conducted a site visit following receipt of the SeeClickFix submission. He said that no signs were removed, moved or otherwise handled and that he closed the complaint as the issue was resolved. He also confirmed that the town staff did not identify any violation.
Yountville Municipal Code Section 17.152.030(B)(6) permits temporary signs of up to eight square feet on private property during the three months before an election and seven days afterward.
