D.C. Tries to Fence In Homeowners' Free Expression

Parenti, a museum curator, bought the plat and completed the application. More than two weeks later, she's heard nothing. Similarly, those residents who asked for a hearing to appeal their citation have had no answer.

"The city doesn't know what to do," says McBride, a federal worker who has no plans to remove his sign. "There's nothing personal on the signs; the language is clean. We wanted to make our protest known, and the city turned it into a free-speech issue. What surprises me is the level of incompetence."

Cai, who says he buys houses and then flips them for profit, won't talk about his plans for the property: "Maybe I move in. I don't know."

Neighbors invited Cai to meet with them, have a drink together. Cai declined. "I don't have time to come over," he tells me. "I don't have to tell them what I do. They do what they want, and I do what I want."

Cai says he doesn't care what the neighbors say on their signs.

But the District, which in recent years has been only too happy to write laws allowing giant billboards to be slapped on downtown buildings, does care.

"The signs in their yards don't comport with the building code," says DCRA spokesman Linda Argo.

The code allows campaign signs, and if you're having your house renovated, the contractor may put a big advertising sign on your lawn. But if you, the owner, have a message to send, go buy a bumper sticker.

"That's the code," Argo says. "We just enforce it."

There will be no permits.

But if the neighbors added "Fenty for Mayor" to their signs, would they be okay then?

"I don't think so," Argo says. "It's mixing messages."

"I can't believe it," says Tina Ramoy, a law librarian who lives with Parenti. "This is informational speech. There's nothing offensive. This neighborhood is very tight. We're just trying to protect the place we live in, and the District comes after us. But I still love living in the District."

What a town.

E-mail:marcfisher@washpost.com