With no public notice and no public input, the Winston-Salem City Council on Monday night considered temporarily changing the city ordinance governing free speech and public assembly to prohibit such activities on City Hall grounds.
At the same time, about 10 people sat on the south lawn of City Hall, holding signs that read "Occupy Winston-Salem" and "We are the 99%." Monday's Occupy Winston-Salem gathering was the second in two days at City Hall.
The council postponed a vote on the proposed changes after several council members said they were uncomfortable making such swift changes to city laws. The council voted instead to consider the changes at its first meeting in January.
Council member Dan Besse, who suggested changing the ordinance, said he agreed with Occupy Winston-Salem's goals of eliminating corporate influence in politics. Besse said he proposed changing the ordinance because he was concerned about public safety and about protecting the City Hall grounds.
"There is nothing at this point to prevent some quasi-fascist group from coming out and getting into a screaming argument with these guys on that corner of the lawn, which was never designed and isn't set up to accommodate extended open-air public meetings," Besse said.
About 20 members of Occupy Winston-Salem gathered on the City Hall lawn Saturday afternoon, intending to hold what they called a "24-hour open-air meeting." But police, City Manager Lee Garrity and City Attorney Angela Carmon forced the protesters to leave Sunday about 9 a.m. Open-air meetings are allowed under the city's ordinances and do not require permits.
Carmon said Monday that she believes the ordinance was never meant to allow around-the-clock protests.
The city typically publishes the issues the council will discuss several days before council meetings. Besse said he requested the last-minute change because of the Occupy protest over the weekend, and Carmon said public notice was not necessary for the council to make the change.
Besse's changes, which also would mean that City Hall is no longer "public property," would have started today and expired March 27.
Council members were divided over the restrictions, and several said they were not comfortable voting on the changes — even if they would be temporary — without allowing city residents to offer their opinions.
"What happened to the notice and the public hearing?" asked council member Wanda Merschel, who represents the city's Northwest Ward.
After the council decided to postpone the vote and ended the meeting, one member of Occupy Winston-Salem, Will Cox, stood up and addressed Mayor Allen Joines.
"Mr. Mayor, can I say something?" Cox asked.
Joines said "No," and left the room.
Cox spoke anyway.
"Our whole point of being here was not to confront the city council," Cox said. "The only reason we stayed was because we were confronted by the police."
Several council members, including Besse, listened as Cox spoke. Others packed their things to leave.
Outside, Adam Price, a member of Occupy Winston-Salem, said he was disturbed that the council would consider changing the open-air meeting ordinance at all, let alone without public input.
"To say that this is not public property is to deny the public funds that built it, to deny the public funds that pay the council's salaries," Price said. "Tax money pays for it, so it is public … and if you say it's not, that's fascism."
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