We the People Were Heard

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This morning I went back to the County Board of Supervisors with my husband. Both of us planned to speak out on a proposed ordinance that was being scheduled for a hearing next month (on my husband's birthday, no less.) Both of us saw this ordinance as a threat to First Amendment rights, as it would require any person or group that wanted to demonstrate, solicit funds, speak, pass out flyers, set up a booth, etc. on county property to get a permit (with a fee) first. This would have given a director or director's employee the authority to decide who would get a permit. The fee might also prevent people who couldn't afford it from exercising their constitutional rights under the first amendment. One really astute commenter at the meeting pointed out that this proposed ordinance was a solution without a problem needing a solution. My hubby got the first round of applause with his brief statement of his experience coming from a Communist country that had such limitations on free speech, and he pleaded with the board not to let this happen in our county. (They shushed the applause and asked people not to applaud in the interests of time. ) My husband didn't realize that the whole meeting was televised and he was recorded, as we all were. In the end, the supervisors listened to the people -- about 30 of us-- who asked them to kill this or redo it instead of putting it forward for a hearing. They sent it back to the drawing board, and all supervisors agreed they needed to more clearly see that the solution was more in keeping with solving a real problem. Most of us could see the reason for requiring a permit for a large group that might require extra county personnel. Almost no one saw the need for a few individuals to get a permit. The proposed penalty for violating this proposed ordinance was to be up to a $500 fine or jail time. We glad we went and that our speaking out actually was heard this time. Normally we are ignored.