Alexander City Mayor Woody Baird will file a police report against the campaign manager of Mike Densmore, his opponent in an upcoming runoff election, Baird’s campaign manager said on Friday.
Baird accused Densmore’s campaign manager, Jacob Meacham, of stealing his campaign signs on Friday morning.
“We’ve lost probably approximately 40 signs since I started the campaign,” Baird said.
Baird said he discovered his signs had been moved from where he originally placed them on Friday morning to Meacham’s house because Baird put AirTags on the signs to track them.
“So, what I would ask Mr. Densmore: Did you direct your people, is it your policy to go out and pull these signs and steal my property? Is that what your campaign is about? If it is, you have no business being mayor, sir. I’m sorry, but that is just unconscionable,” Baird said.
Densmore responded to Baird in a statement to 1819 News, “This is an obvious attempt to entrap and weaponize the legal system against a private citizen who has been helping my campaign.”
“We are confident that nothing will come of this political stunt. Woody Baird will stoop to any level to distract from his failures. High utility bills are crushing Alex City residents, and instead of running on the issues, he is trying to pervert the justice system against his own constituents,” Densmore said.
Meacham said on Facebook regarding the incident, “I serve in a volunteer role with the Young Acres HOA, and one of our responsibilities is maintaining the entrance to the neighborhood and keeping it presentable. Our HOA maintains several areas throughout the neighborhood, including the entrance off Cherokee Road where the Young Acres sign is located on Hillsdale Drive.”
“On June 21, I received word from a Young Acres resident that campaign signs had been placed on HOA-owned property at the neighborhood entrance. Those signs belonged to Mayor Woody Baird. I sent him a text message letting him know that I had removed the signs and could return them to him. He called me, then came by my home to pick them up. During that visit, I reiterated what I said in my text — that the property across the road by the pond is privately owned, and that if he wished to place signs there, he would need to obtain the property owner’s permission. We shook hands, and he left,” Meacham said. “This morning, I again removed two of Mr. Baird’s signs from the privately owned property near the pond, believing he still did not have permission to place them there. A short time later, while I was working in my home office, two police officers came to my door. They explained that Mr. Baird had placed tracking devices in his signs, which were now showing up at my address. I confirmed to the officers that I had removed the signs and explained the previous conversation I had with the mayor about needing permission to place them there. I also provided the officers with a message I had received from the property owner confirming that no one from Mr. Baird’s campaign had contacted him to request permission to place signs on his property. The officers were professional and respectful throughout the exchange and left with the signs. I wanted to take the opportunity to offer this statement as a clear record of my involvement. I have acted in good faith as an HOA officer to keep our neighborhood entrance maintained and to make sure any candidate wishing to place signs by the pond obtains permission from the property owner first. Any suggestion that I have moved, removed, or disturbed any other campaign signs belonging to Mr. Baird is simply false.”
Liv Nay, campaign manager for Baird, told 1819 News in an interview on Friday that Baird planned to file a police report against Meacham.
“At first, Jacob Meacham explained to Mayor Woody Baird that it was an HOA neighborhood but they continued to leave up a Mike Densmore sign at the very entrance to the road so if Woody can’t have a sign up there then a Mike Densmore sign shouldn’t be up there,” Nay said. “That’s been the place where his signs have been taken up. Jacob Meacham said, ‘Oh, that’s an HOA violation.’ But they kept the opponent’s signs up. There’s no HOA. It’s just all malicious. He will file charges. He plans on doing it today or tomorrow.”
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