Home made signs criticize Abuzuaiter, Holder takes credit

Two home made signs appeared outside the old Guilford County Courthouse — Greensboro's early voting site — this morning with messages criticizing at-large incumbent Councilwoman Marikay Abuzuaiter. Not only are the signs legal, but her opponent Ben Holder is taking credit. 

"Yeah that’s me," he said in a phone interview. "I just made another one — Marikay Obfuscaiter. Get it?"

Holder, one of nine candidates (including Abuzuaiter) running at large, has criticized Abuzuaiter at several council meetings about her transparency about whether she secretly provided information about activists to Greensboro police officers. (Read YES! Weekly's recent editorial on the issue here. Her handling of the issue kept Y!W from endorsing her in the primary).  

Guilford County Elections Director Charlie Collicutt said the signs are legal and don't need to have a disclosure legend saying who paid for it. Collicutt spoke with the state board's general counsel, who said the language is "generally within the realm of acceptable political discourse." Collicutt said Abuzuaiter put her sign right next to it (pictured below) and Holder said that his signs were moved back and hers were placed in front, causing him to make the new sign. 

"I just have a really big problem with someone who refuses to be clear on a story as big as that," Holder said explaining why he did it, adding that it wasn't about her communication with police but that she is lying about her actions. "You never see a homemade sign or people being creative [with signs]. It's easy, it's fun and it may take off."