Battle for Free Speech
Published on Sarasota Indymedia (http://sarasota.indymedia.org)
Free Speech Activists Battle Baywalk
By
Created 10/10/2009 – 10:02pm
[0]The line has been drawn in St. Petersburg between free speech activists and corporate interests [1]. At issue is a sidewalk in front of baywalk [2], a downtown entertainment complex. Baywalk’s owners, CW Capital [3], have lobbied the city of St. Petersburg to privatize the sidewalk for the expressed purpose of stopping protests. Protesters [4] have traditionally used the sidewalk as a gathering place for demonstrations against international [5] as well as domestic [6] imperialism. It’s been argued that protesters constitute a perceived security risk and are bad for business.
Baywalk’s owners have bribed the city to privatize the sidewalk in front of baywalk, saying it is a “deal-breaker,” meaning that without it the owners will not go through with plans of spending up to $6 million revitalizing the property. On Oct. 1st, despite st. pete mayor Rick Baker’s [7] backroom dealing [8], the city council voted down [9] the proposal: 4-4. Following the victory for free speech, St Pete For Peace [10], one of the protest groups, announced that they would not hold protests at baywalk [11] for at least a year as long as the city didn’t again move forward to stop protests.
But the city undermined the peace group’s good faith effort after a St. Petersburg Times editorial [12] convinced one council member, Herb Polson hepolson@stpete.org [13], who previously voted to protect free speech, to call for a revote [14].
Activists have used a variety of tactics to convey their opposition to the city’s plan including protests, letter writing, power point presentations [15], a free speech flash mob [16], and radical cheerleading [17].
The city is scheduled to take their final vote on the sidewalk privatization, around 3pm on Oct. 15th at St. Petersburg City Hall (175 Fifth St. N.) The vote will be made without an opportunity for public comment. Activists have responded by writing on one website [18], “there are ways to speak without words. And they will have a tougher time silencing our actions.”
read more: 1 [19], 2 [20], 3 [21], 4 [22]
listen: 1 [23], 2, [24] 3, [25]
watch: 1, [26] 2, [27] 3, [28] 4 [29], 5 [30],
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http://sarasota.indymedia.org/local/free-speech-activists-battle-baywalk
