San Luis Obispo County Building. How do you like the reflective windows?
A large group of people gathered in the chamber of the Board of Supervisors at the county building this morning to comment on a scheduling a hearing for a proposal for an ordinance that would limit first amendment rights. It was on today’s consent agenda, which means the Board probably didn’t expect any controversy over it. The public disagreed, and most commenters urged the supervisors to kill the proposal instead of scheduling the hearing. You can see the discussion yourself in the archives of today’s meeting.
If you watch this, you will note that commenters who don’t always agree with each other were united in wanting this proposal gone. At least two people asked just what problem the county was trying to solve by imposing the permit requirement on those who wanted to assemble, demonstrate, speak, or pass out flyers on county owned properties. It’s surprising the the person who had the idea for this ordinance hadn’t even considered it might infringe on first amendment rights. Fortunately, the supervisors did the right thing in sending this proposed ordinance back to the drawing board instead of scheduling a hearing. I give them all kudos on this action.