I had wanted to attend the FOIA reform ordinance which was discussed in the City Council Ordinance & Rules Subcommittee on Wednesday at 6. Unfortunately traffic leaving the city was insane so I called my good friend Walter Walrus, to sit in on the meeting in my stead. Unfortunately his Zoom image was offensive to one meeting participant and Walter while he left on his own accord was moments from being booted out of the meeting.

This was a public meeting of the government where public participation is encouraged. Participation can refer just attending meetings, or speaking up during the public participation segment. In public participation you are free to be as offensive as you desire, or as kind… You can whistle a tune or play a guitar and sing, pantomime or or recite a sonnet. For the allotted time, the floor is yours.

Back in the day when people physically attended public meetings, ones mere presence, their demeanor, their graphic tee shirts, were all considered part of the freedom of expression. Just being there, was participating in government, and while you can’t post a political message in a city building, you certainly can wear one in.

Out of the Zoom/web based public meetings of the COVID era, issues have arisen. Such in this case, Walter’s chosen static web image. In some meetings, people who just want to listen can just tune in on local access TV, or on Facebook, or on the City’s “The Government Channel” website, however this particular meeting does not afford those options. On local access and on “The Government Channel” was a rerun of a Mayor’s Community Hour form several weeks back, and the City Council’s Facebook does not cover many of the subcommittees. In this case, if you want to take in the discussion you need to download Zoom and log in.

So for this meeting, Walter Walrus was to attend until I could get in. Unfortunately he was not so kindly asked to leave or be kicked out.

It is my belief that politically charged signs, images, etc. in the public forum are protected. It is my belief that while not and official political message, that precedent has been set by School Committee member William LeBarge who has a BLM message displayed in the room behind him. Wheras all Zoom participants can choose their setting, their photo background, or their icon in lieu of a video feed, the choice is protected. Even real political issues which appeared on ballots last November have been discussed in public meetings. For example in the case of the Community Preservation Act, the entire City Council signed their names to a document in support of the act passing.

Walter Walrus contends that his message was not even political, as “Anyone But Spicer” is not a name on the November 2021 ballot. Nobody is even officially running yet, as nobody has pulled petition papers or gotten would be constituent signatures yet. The papers aren’t available for another month. Therefore the fact that he was asked to leave the meeting for expressing merely an opinion violated his civil rights.

Look for me, Frank Wood, to join future Zoom meetings of this subcommittee where I will turn up the heat. My goal, have Brian Sullivan shit himself.