And They Gnashed Their Terrible Teeth, Roared Their Terrible Roars, Loudly Wailed Their Lamentations, While Shrieking Curses to the Sky
To no apparent avail.
And frankly?
I was as shocked as Occupy Pensacola that the mayor had the balls to do it.
RELEASE:
Hayward to Occupiers: No More Tent Cities
In a statement today, Pensacola Mayor Ashton Hayward informed members of the Occupy Pensacola group that the “tent cities” that have been erected in Martin Luther King, Jr, Plaza would no longer be allowed.
Citing an existing city ordinance (Sec. 8-1-7)* prohibiting the construction of enclosures on city property, Hayward informed the Occupy Pensacola members that upon their move to the City Hall courtyard, or 5pm on Friday, tents or other outdoor structures would not be allowed.
Hayward stated that he did not support the protesters’ political sentiments, but that he and city staff had worked hard to be respectful of the protesters’ First Amendment rights. However, the establishment of overnight structures violated city ordinances and posed a public safety problem.
“I’ve tried, and continue to try, to be respectful of the First Amendment rights of the Occupy Pensacola group, by granting them extended permission to congregate on City property, and by providing sanitation services for the health and public safety of the entire downtown area. However, the current – and growing – number of tents and other structures are unacceptable. I am happy to provide the group with an extended presence here at the City Hall courtyard, which they have agreed to. But at this point, for the safety of everyone and the respect of downtown businesses and residents, we are going to start enforcing this ordinance as of 5pm Friday.”
The ordinance falls under the code enforcement section of the City’s codes and ordinances, and any violation would result in a misdemeanor code enforcement violation (a non-criminal offense), and a request to appear before the code enforcement magistrate. Hayward said he did not want to interfere with the group’s right to peaceably assemble, but that the growing presence of tents, makeshift awnings, and tarps tied to trees was unacceptable.
“I hope the Occupy Pensacola folks understand this and will continue to work with the City to ensure the health, safety, and rights of all involved,” concluded Hayward.
I hope weepy, surly Occupiers don’t scare the little Trick-or-Treaters downtown this evening as they snatch up their belongings and rail against the unfairness of “The Man”.
That would be mean.
UPDATE: **sigh** Hold everything. WTF?
…But the City Council’s message to Hayward last night was not so fast.
…After lengthy debate, the council voted 5-4 to ask the mayor to temporarily suspend the ordinance for two weeks to give the City Council time to determine what should be allowable on city property in the long term.
Council members Sherri Myers, Larry B. Johnson, John Jerralds, Brian Spencer and Megan Pratt voted in favor, with P.C. Wu, Maren DeWeese, Ronald Townsend and Sam Hall opposed.
“If we say you can come here to City Hall, but you have to sleep on the ground without shelter, that may present more of a health problem having people exposed to the elements,” said Myers, who made the motion to temporarily allow the tents.
To quote a favorite comic of mine, “Excccuuuusssse ME?!?!?!”
Morality, Nanny State, People, Politics | tree hugging sister | 
October 28, 2011 8:03 am
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Oy.
Does the Mayor have the authority to tell the council members to bite the end of his “exposed element”?
“Party at Sherri’s place!”
When the fuck did Pensacola become liberal?
And Syd, Hayward doesn’t have the fucking balls. He’s an idiot, literally. I’ve met him, my brother from another started off his campaign; all the dude is is a fucking smile.
WTF? You know how a legislative body tells the executive to not enforce a law? They repeal it. Unless they are willing to invest the mayorship with the ability to approach city ordinances like a salad bar I can’t see how what they did is legal.
Ebola, the liberals in Pcola are as annoying as they are anywhere else, but they don’t comprise a majority (or even a plurality) of the populace…they just have more time and inclination to make asses and fools out of themselves. A contributing factor are all of the liberal fart majors from UWF and PJC that are probably getting extra credit from their Marxist profs for attending. I spent years at both schools and the institutional leftard-fu is strong.
To quote a favorite comic of mine, “Excccuuuusssse ME?!?!?!”
(happy feet bonus!)
Midnight Special circa 1972)