In June, Santa Maria resident Stephen Siemsen decided to protest the White House by hanging an American flag upside down in his window, a choice that drew criticism from some residents of Quail Meadows East, the manufactured home park where Stephen and his wife, Lisa Casillas-Siemsen, reside.
But the dispute didn’t end there. Now, the Siemsens are plaintiffs in a case against Quail Meadows East after the park management ordered the couple to take down one of the two political signs they displayed in their front yard.
The couple says that they were unfairly targeted for their political views. While their signage included anti-Trump and pro-Democrat sentiment, other park residents allegedly displayed pro-Republican signs without pushback, according to court documents.
According to a complaint for damages document that Sanger Swysen & Dunkle, the law firm representing the Siemsens, shared with the Sun, the current dispute started on Aug. 3 when the Siemsens displayed two political signs in their front yard.
“One sign included the text ‘Vets Against Trump,’” the court document stated. “The other sign was in support of the reelection of United States Representative Salud Carbajal.”
Stephen told the Sun that within six hours of putting the signs up, he and Lisa received a notice from the park management asking them to only display one sign within their space.
The email cited the Quail Meadows East Guidelines, which state, “Resident is permitted to display a political campaign sign related to a candidate for election to public office or to the initiative, referendum, or recall process in the window or on the side of the home, or on the space. Such signs may not exceed 6 square feet, and the sign may not be displayed in excess of a period of time from 90 days prior to an election to 15 days following the election.”
“I was told to take the sign down,” Stephen said. “Then we appealed this because … when I read the guidelines that I signed when I moved into the park, it says that a resident may display a sign. Well, I’m a resident, my wife’s a resident. That’s two signs.”
Neither of the Siemsens’ signs exceeded 6 square feet, and both were displayed starting exactly 90 days before the election.
Then in an Aug. 21 email to all Quail Meadows residents, according to court documents, the management wrote, “There are a few issues in regards to the Quail Meadow East Guidelines that are written in a rather vague way. … In order to eliminate the confusion for residents and myself as the manager, please take the time complete [sic] this form and return to the office. The majority of votes rule.”
Julie Johnson is the manager of Quail Meadows East.
The form included questions such as, “How many political signs are allowed on residents lots?”
Two days later, Stephen forwarded the email to Quail Meadows East owner Devon Weber.
Weber replied on Aug. 24, writing, “If you are within the size limits then please disregard request to remove signs. Any violations going forward will be addressed by myself along with Julie Johnson. Please disregard the email asking you to complete a form.”
“So my wife put her Carbajal sign back out in the yard, after we got the email from the owner,” Stephen said. “The next thing we got on Sept. 18 was a seven-day notice to take the sign down.”
On Sept. 24, the Siemsens removed their Carbajal sign, opting to keep their “Vets Against Trump” sign. But according to both Stephen and the court documents, since Sept. 18, multiple other properties in the Quail Meadows East park have displayed more than one political sign.
“Many of the spaces had signs for candidates for the Republican Party,” the complaint states. The Siemsens’ signs, in contrast, expressed anti-Trump and pro-Democrat sentiments.
“Some of these neighbors are my friends. If they put a Trump sign in their yard, after the election, we’re still friends,” Stephen said. “But what’s with telling me I can’t have a sign?”
With the election days away, the Siemsens applied for a temporary restraining order on Oct. 27. If granted, it would have ordered Quail Meadows East “to permit plaintiffs to display multiple political campaign signs relating to candidates for election to public office,” the proposed temporary restraining order document stated.
But on Oct. 30, the judge denied the Siemsens’ application for a temporary restraining order. Stephen said their next hearing isn’t until February 2021, months after the 2020 election.
“Justice delayed is justice denied,” Lisa said. “I was just crushed. [The judge] does not have a machine to turn back time to give me those vital days to have my say and political sign up.”
Though the Siemsens will not be able to display multiple signs for this election cycle, Stephen said he and Lisa will still fight to win their case.
“If we win the case, that means in four years we can put two signs in our yard,” Stephen said.
In the meantime, Stephen decided to cut a 6-square-foot piece of plywood, trim down his signs, and attach them to fit within the singular piece of wood.
“They seem to be OK with that, especially since it’s only two days until the election,” Stephen said before Election Day.
The Sun reached out to Quail Meadows East for comment, but was told that the manager was out of the office until Friday, Nov. 6, and could not be reached.
This article appears in Nov 5-12, 2020.