tsopranos
07-07-2009, 03:17 PM
Tea party group demands apology from Port St. Lucie
http://www.tcpalm.com/news/2009/jul/07/tea-party-group-demands-apology-from-psl/
PORT ST. LUCIE — Members of the anti-tax group Treasure Coast Tea Party are demanding an apology from city officials, claiming their civil rights have been violated.
Organization members said they were singled out at the city’s Freedomfest over the weekend by being put into a special area — with a sign nearby stating Port St. Lucie did not back their views or opinions.
A spokesman for the city called the accusations “nonsense.” But Port St. Lucie officials continue to receive e-mails and phone calls critical of the city’s actions at the new Civic Center.
City spokesman Ed Cunningham said the city won’t stop groups expressing potentially offensive views from renting space at events.
But the city intends to designate all such groups into an area they will call “Section B,” signifying only where those groups will be allowed to set up, Cunningham said. He also said the disclaimer sign will be at future events where groups pushing views that some may find offensive — possibly including local Republican and Democratic clubs — intend to set up a booth or display.
“From now on any group may fall under that category,” Cunningham said. “This is not arts and crafts, not food and beverages. It’s some other category. So we created one.”
The local anti-tax group says the city was trying to silence its First Amendment rights to free speech and assembly on Saturday.
The group used its rented booth at Freedomfest 2009 to recruit new members and ask people to sign petitions on issues such as Florida sovereignty and its opposition to the American Clean Energy and Security Act.
Carl Iken, an organizer of the Treasure Coast Tea Party, said the group wants to know why the city would put up the sign that blocked the view of their booth and harass members.
“We paid for our booth like any other vendor there, to be in that spot, and they were preventing us from being seen by anybody going by,” said Iken. “They went out of their way to make us look different, to make us stand out.”
He also wants to know why the issue hasn’t come up at other events held in Port St. Lucie, such as at the Latin Heritage Festival or the Treasure Coast Pride Festival.
Cunningham said there hadn’t been any similar situations that would have required the sign in the past. He said the area was perfectly accessible to the public and that the sign was not set up to block anyone’s view.
City Attorney Roger Orr recommended the sign as a means to notify those who could be offended that the city wouldn’t block the rights of those who want to express their views, Cunningham said.
Iken said tea party members will attend the July 13 commission meeting to address the issue.
http://www.tcpalm.com/news/2009/jul/07/tea-party-group-demands-apology-from-psl/
PORT ST. LUCIE — Members of the anti-tax group Treasure Coast Tea Party are demanding an apology from city officials, claiming their civil rights have been violated.
Organization members said they were singled out at the city’s Freedomfest over the weekend by being put into a special area — with a sign nearby stating Port St. Lucie did not back their views or opinions.
A spokesman for the city called the accusations “nonsense.” But Port St. Lucie officials continue to receive e-mails and phone calls critical of the city’s actions at the new Civic Center.
City spokesman Ed Cunningham said the city won’t stop groups expressing potentially offensive views from renting space at events.
But the city intends to designate all such groups into an area they will call “Section B,” signifying only where those groups will be allowed to set up, Cunningham said. He also said the disclaimer sign will be at future events where groups pushing views that some may find offensive — possibly including local Republican and Democratic clubs — intend to set up a booth or display.
“From now on any group may fall under that category,” Cunningham said. “This is not arts and crafts, not food and beverages. It’s some other category. So we created one.”
The local anti-tax group says the city was trying to silence its First Amendment rights to free speech and assembly on Saturday.
The group used its rented booth at Freedomfest 2009 to recruit new members and ask people to sign petitions on issues such as Florida sovereignty and its opposition to the American Clean Energy and Security Act.
Carl Iken, an organizer of the Treasure Coast Tea Party, said the group wants to know why the city would put up the sign that blocked the view of their booth and harass members.
“We paid for our booth like any other vendor there, to be in that spot, and they were preventing us from being seen by anybody going by,” said Iken. “They went out of their way to make us look different, to make us stand out.”
He also wants to know why the issue hasn’t come up at other events held in Port St. Lucie, such as at the Latin Heritage Festival or the Treasure Coast Pride Festival.
Cunningham said there hadn’t been any similar situations that would have required the sign in the past. He said the area was perfectly accessible to the public and that the sign was not set up to block anyone’s view.
City Attorney Roger Orr recommended the sign as a means to notify those who could be offended that the city wouldn’t block the rights of those who want to express their views, Cunningham said.
Iken said tea party members will attend the July 13 commission meeting to address the issue.