Digital sign at Merced construction site had overt political message. Who is responsible?

A digital traffic message sign at a construction site in downtown Merced spelled out a political statement on Friday — but the contractor says there’s an explanation.

Merced motorists early Friday morning noticed the sign on M Street near Main Street read “MAKE AMERICA GREAT” and “TRUMP 2020.”

The site is part of the city-funded downtown revitalization project, which includes Measure V road improvements in that area.

Regardless of what the sign said, it’s potentially problematic because according to state code 8314, public officials and consultants aren’t permitted to display campaign activity using any type of government resource.

Violators can even be fined a maximum $1,000 each day the violation occurs.

Alan Dirlam, spokesperson for the city’s contractor Agee Construction, said the message appeared because the sign was “hacked” by someone.

Agee Construction was contacted about the message Friday morning and informed its subcontractor, who promptly changed the message back, according to Dirlam.

“It simply got hacked,” Dirlam said, adding that Agee Constructions “in no way condones” support of any political candidate, and of any subcontractor displaying political messages, on government projects.

The city doesn’t own the sign, and officials were notified about the hack Friday morning, city spokesman Mike Conway said.

“We, the city, didn’t have any city-owned signs in the area,” Conway said. “There was nothing that (the contractor) was doing deliberately.”

While Dirlam couldn’t speak to the message board on M Street, he noted it’s normal for computers on construction message boards to be secured behind a locked cabinet and password.

“It’s probably not that difficult if somebody knows what they’re doing,” Dirlam said, adding the hacker likely was familiar with how traffic message boards work.

This story was originally published December 20, 2019 at 6:20 PM.