HANSON, MASS. (WHDH) - A light fight over the Hanson water tower has reached another level.
Town officials said as soon as they took down lights that have been blocking a political projection on the tower Wednesday, a new image popped up.
Pictures on social media show a skull associated with the “Punisher” comic book character, with President Elect Trump’s hair projected on it.
The town turned the lights back on and the image is gone.
The dispute has been going on for weeks, with a small group of fervent supporters of then-candidate Trump gathering to show their support for the continued violation of town by-laws.
On Friday, Oct 11, town officials learned that a local resident was projecting the political sign from their property onto the water tower at 228 High St., according to Town Administrator Lisa Green.
To dim the image and maintain the town’s neutrality, officials used spotlights, including two from nearby communities, shining them on the tower from dusk to dawn, Green said. Though the individual had stopped projecting, the town continued to shine the spotlights on the tower to continue to enforce the town’s bylaws and avoid a back-and-forth with the resident, should they decide to resume projection.
The town fined the individual $100 per day while the projection was up, and town employees were unnecessarily harassed by those who support the individual’s skirting of town regulations.
“The unnecessary situation… has not only caused an undue financial burden on the Town but it has resulted in at least one threat sent in a voicemail toward a Town official and a number of inappropriate and vulgar phone calls and email messages to Town employees who are just doing their jobs,” the select board said in a statement. “The Hanson Select Board strongly desires that this individual resident agree to put an end to this matter without delay.”
On Wednesday, Hanson stopped shining lights onto the tower, hopeful that the projection would stop with the election over, but once they did so, the light was back, this time with the new image of the comic book character logo adorned with a cartoon version of president elect’s hairstyle.
“Earlier today, the Town of Hanson discontinued measures put in place to block a political image being projected onto a Town-owned water tower,” Town Administrator Lisa Green said in a statement. “Regrettably, the party involved in the image projection resumed projecting today and as a result we have had to yet again take measures to block the projected image.”
It is against town regulations to display any political symbols on government property.
“We would like to reiterate that the Town of Hanson does not endorse any political candidate, party or platform in any election, and that Town bylaws prohibit the display of political symbols or signage on government property,” Green said. “The Town is duty-bound to enforce those bylaws and is committed to taking whatever action is necessary to prevent future violations.”
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