Laserfiche WebLink
<br /> parades must be regulated by ordinance, the suggested ordinance seems to fall <br />e within the parameters of acceptability. He has outlined some suggestions in a <br /> letter which was delivered this afternoon. He thanked the City Attorney's <br /> office and the City Council for all the work they have put into this measure and <br /> the consideration they have taken, as well as their responsiveness. However, <br /> there are still suggestions he would like to have considered. Every provision <br /> in the ordinance is directed toward some reasonable and legitimate objective, <br /> but there are concerns toward four provisions as to the way they are drafted, <br /> since they may be susceptible to overly broad or dangerous enforcement. The <br /> proposed changes are: 1) The last sentence of 5.05 (3) be changed to "...reli- <br /> able information shows that the parade organizers intend to cause or condone <br /> violence during the course of the parade." The reason for this proposed change <br /> is that some participants might not have knowledge or consent from the organizers <br /> to act in certain ways and it would be unfair and perhaps unconstitutional to <br /> deny a parade permit to organizers because a group of individuals may be hostile <br /> to their interests. This would allow parade organizers to be held to a higher <br /> level of accountability; not only would they not be allowed to cause violence, <br /> they would not be allowed to condone violence. Other participants who are not <br /> organizers would be covered by the section in the ordinance which deals with <br /> protecting public safety; 2) the second change relates to route or time change <br /> on the matter of traffic congestion. They would suggest that 5.505 (4) be <br /> changed to "whether the parade is likely to interfere substantially with the <br /> flow of traffic by causing excessive traffic congestion for a long period of <br /> time and this congestion cannot be alleviated by reasonable efforts to redirect <br /> traffic"; 3) the third change deals with permit revocation. They would suggest <br /> that Section 5.520 (b) be replaced by two sections: "and violence has been <br /> caused or condoned by parade organizers" and "actual violence that endangers <br />e public safety has been caused by parade participants and public safety cannot be <br /> protected without revocation of the permit"; 4) the final suggestion deals with <br /> Administrative Rule 6. They would suggest that exclusion of use of principal <br /> arterial streets be limited to Monday through Friday, since those are the days <br /> of heavy traffic congestion. <br /> Larry Ross, 1236 Kincaid, stated that he is representing the American Civil <br /> Liberties Union. He would like for the council to postpone final consideration <br /> of this ordinance. The notice mailed October 1, 1981, to Drew Smith at ACLU was <br /> not received until this morning because he was out of town. This draft does not <br /> respond to several issues which concerned the council at the last meeting. <br /> Council had requested alternatives. Councilor Obie wanted to know why there are <br /> parade permits for political parades. There are no responses to either of these <br /> requests. The ordinance has not been changed. The only- significant revisions <br /> which he has been able to discover relate to changes in the administrative rules <br /> regarding insurance. The issue seems to be one of promoting freedom of expres- <br /> sion of speech. The City should be willing 'and has an obligation to support <br /> freedom of expression and they should be willing to undertake costs, whether <br /> people can afford the costs or not. This should be subsidized just as much as <br /> civic buildings and other items of public benefit. To impose burdens of cost <br /> seems to discriminate against those who have money, and that is not permissible <br /> by the First Amendment. The grounds for permit denial because of a possibility <br /> of violence being caused to parade participants are still a problem. The main <br />e <br /> MINUTES--Eugene City Council October 12, 1981 Page 2 <br />I <br />