At the outset of Monday’s meeting of the Public
Safety Committee, Mayor Pro Tem Vivian Burke
announced to the audience — and specifically
to the members of Occupy Winston-Salem in
attendance —that the issue of potential changes to the city’s
open-air meetings ordinance would not be resolved that night.
Burke’s prediction proved accurate as the committee agreed
to City Manager Lee Garrity’s recommendation to take no
action on a proposal put forth by Councilman Dan Besse last
month that would restrict open-air public meetings on City Hall
grounds and send the issue back to city staff for further study.
Garrity recommended the committee ask city staff to look at
all ordinances regarding public assembly, exhibition permits and
parade permit ordinances “not for the purpose of restricting free
speech in any way, but for the purpose of trying to make sure
they’re clear and consistent,” he said.
“There’s some confusion about what an open-air public meeting
is,” Garrity added.
Garrity said city staff would solicit input from all citizens,
not just members of Occupy Winston-Salem, in developing its
recommendations over the next three months.
Besse attended Monday’s meeting and defended his “keep off
the grass” proposal that would have allowed demonstrators to
gather only on the paved steps, walkways and sidewalks of City
Hall and would have limited the hours of any open-air meetings
at City Hall from 6 a.m. to 11 p.m. Winston-Salem city ordinance
requires individuals or groups wishing to hold open-air
public meetings to obtain a permit from the city, except when the
meeting is held on city property. Besse’s proposal would have
exempted City Hall from being considered public property.
Besse said he crafted his proposed changes to city ordinance
regarding open-air public meetings “on the fly” and in consultation
with City Attorney Angela Carmon in response to “protest activities”
going on at City Hall last month. Besse said he had hoped his
proposed amendments to city
ordinance would serve to clarify
the rules regarding public assembly
without infringing upon
the First Amendment rights of
citizens while the city deliberated
on long-term alternatives.
Besse said he included a sunset
date of March 27 because his
recommendations were only
temporary.
Besse said the “keep off the
grass” provision in his amendment
was to protect citizen
safety. Garrity addressed
safety concerns regarding creating a barrier to protect demonstrators
from falling off a rock wall that encircles the front lawn.
He said City Hall is an historic landmark and his staff is working
with the Historic Resources Commission to find a chain that
would be appropriate for appearance’s sake and serve as a barrier
to keep people from getting too close to the rock wall.
Garrity emphasized the current ordinance states that an open-air
meeting can be held on any public property, saying that Occupy
Winston-Salem can have pickets of less than 25 people without notifying
the city. If the number is greater than 25 people, they need to
notify the city but do not require a permit. Occupy Winston-Salem
can have open-air public meetings on public property that’s not
already restricted like a city park, he said.
“What they can’t do is sleep or camp,” he said.
A number of Occupy Winston-Salem members spoke during
Monday’s meeting.
Jon Epstein, a sociologist at Salem College, told committee members that he has frequently consulted with police departments about freedom-ofspeech issues, and he found it ironic that it was so difficult for the community to find a place to speak politically.
“It’s the city’s responsibility
as the guardians of this
community to let these people
speak,” Epstein said. “We’re
asking for the people to be
heard. Your responsibility is to find the place for that to happen
and protect them.”
Tony Ndege, a member of Occupy Winston-Salem, said the
group has been very respectful of the city. Ndege asked the
Winston-Salem Police Department to give Occupy Winston-Salem
the benefit of the doubt with regard to enforcing the open-air
meetings ordinance in the future.
“Unfortunately we were shut down about six times in two meetings and there was some sort of rule that was brought up — the 10-minute break from being involved in open-air assembly,” Ndege said.
Garrity said the city would continue to enforce the rules in the
open-air meeting ordinance but would give Occupy Winston-
Salem the benefit of the doubt.
Councilman Derwin Montgomery touched on the WSPD’s actions in shutting down the Occupy Winston-Salem meeting on Dec. 20 that resulted in the arrest of one of the demonstrators.
“I don’t like that,” Montgomery said. “If we’re going to enforce
that, we need to enforce across the board with everything
we do, and not selectively look at certain things.”
Kim Porter, a member of Occupy Winston-Salem, said the
group has never been confused about the city’s open-air meetings
ordinance.
“We did some research before we took the legal action of
conducting the open-air meeting on the City Hall lawn,” Porter
said. “We followed the rules, we followed the laws and I think,
quite frankly, that Besse’s opinion that there’s some gray area,
that the definition needs to be well-defined — that doesn’t make
sense to me.”
Porter said she believes the city should simply leave the ordinance alone.
“It appears to me that if the ordinance is changed, that to me is in direct response to us exercising our right to free speech,” Porter said. “We already have an ordinance on the books. It is legal what we’re doing. I’d like to mention we’re protected by the Constitution. They’re making a big issue out of one that shouldn’t be made. We are following the law.”
‘It appears to me that if the ordinance is changed, that to me is in direct response to us exercising our right to free speech.We already have an ordinance on the books. It is legal what we’re doing. I’d like to mention we’re protected by the Constitution. They’re making a big issue out of one that shouldn’t be made. We are following the law.’
— Kim Porter, Occupy Winston-Salem
