City of Roswell v. Eller Media Co.

By threatening plaintiff's current and potential clients, the city's mayor contravened the spirit and intent of an injunction directing the city and mayor to permit plaintiff to construct and operate outdoor advertising signs within the city.

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Appellants, the City of Roswell and its mayor, Jere Wood, appeal from the trial court’s order holding them in contempt of its November 18, 1999 injunction directing both the City and the Mayor to permit appellee, Eller Media Company, to “construct and operate” outdoor advertising signs within the city. Finding no error, we affirm.

The injunction at issue arose out of contentious litigation in which the City sought to preclude Eller Media Company’s predecessor in interest hereinafter “Eller” from constructing and operating advertising signs within the City of Roswell. Ultimately, the trial court ruled in favor of Eller and entered its order directing Mayor Wood and the City to “permit Eller to construct and operate each and every sign” involved in the action. The record demonstrates, however, that after the signs were constructed, the Mayor, using extensive City resources and personnel, contacted every business or organization that displayed a message or advertised on Eller’s signs in the City of Roswell and strongly discouraged them from advertising on such signs. On at least one occasion, the Mayor threatened to rebid a City contract with the advertiser unless the company canceled its advertising agreement with Eller. In response to the Mayor’s numerous threats and actions, several businesses canceled their contracts to advertise on Eller’s signs. Based on this evidence, the trial judge found that the Mayor engaged in a “course of conduct the clear intent of which was to undermine or prevent the operation of Eller’s signs in the City” and that the “Mayor knew or should have known that his attempts to impede the operation of Eller’s signs in the City violated the Court’s orders.”

City of Roswell v. Eller Media Co.

By threatening plaintiff's current and potential clients, the city's mayor contravened the spirit and intent of an injunction directing the city and mayor to permit plaintiff to construct and operate outdoor advertising signs within the city.

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