Committee advances plan to add free police hours for special events

The Health and Public Safety Committee voted Jan. 12 to send Bill 78-25 to the Committee of the Whole with a favorable recommendation, proposing an increase in free public-safety overtime provided for permitted special events. City legal counsel Michael Schmidt told the committee the amendment would raise the ordinance’s in-kind service from 40 hours to 48 hours, an increase the police department requested to help smaller nonprofits and community events.

Schmidt said the current overtime rate for patrol-level officers is $77.15 per hour and offered an illustrative example: two officers for four hours would add about $617 in overtime costs for an applicant if the city did not provide those hours in-kind. He said staff estimate roughly 10–15 events could benefit from the modest change and that the special-events committee reviews applications for logistics and safety rather than content.

The proposal drew public opposition from William Elliott Smith, who said the ordinance “reveals a fundamental threat to the First Amendment” and argued that conditioning assembly on discretionary permitting and variable fees risks prior restraint and viewpoint bias. Smith referenced Supreme Court precedent and said he was prepared to file litigation seeking declaratory and injunctive relief if the city adopted the policy without changes.

Schmidt responded at the meeting that the city “respectfully disagree[s] with the statements that were presented here” and characterized the fees as cost recovery for overtime rather than revenue-generation; he said the city does not target controversial events. In response to concerns, Council member Dr. Davis requested a written, attorney-to-attorney response addressing the constitutional points so he could review it before voting; Schmidt agreed to provide that communication.

After discussion and committee remarks in support of helping community parades and runs, a motion to forward Bill 78-25 to the Committee of the Whole with a favorable recommendation passed on a roll call of five ayes and one nay (Dr. Davis). The ordinance as forwarded would amend chapter 14, article 15, section 14-175 of the municipal code to increase the in-kind officer hours offered to special-event permit applicants.

The next procedural step is consideration by the Committee of the Whole where the council will receive the committee’s recommendation and may schedule further debate or amendment.