Business owner asks for redevelopment funding; commenter urges council to change public-comment rules

During the public-comment period Harold Smith, who identified himself as representing Crossroad Enterprises (S11), asked the council to consider funding engineering fees needed for downtown redevelopment following a recent building collapse. Smith said he provided council members with an updated plan and a bank letter indicating a funding commitment of "up to $1,500,000 over the next 2 years." He said he was referred to the redevelopment committee in February and requested that the committee provide engineering-study funds so projects could move forward more quickly.

Later a separate public commenter (S9) addressed the council's public-comment policy at length, calling portions of it "misguided but unconstitutional." The commenter objected to rules that ban speech deemed "obscene, repetitive, or personal attacks" and to a requirement that speakers give full name and address before speaking. Citing prior court rulings where local governments paid damages, the commenter urged the council, mayor and city attorney to undertake First Amendment training and to remove the challenged language. "No one should have to choose the right between their safety and the right to speak," the commenter said.

Council members thanked the speakers; no formal commitments to fund the engineering study or to change the public-comment policy were made on the record. The matters were referred for committee or staff follow-up.