Commissioners review ordinance to curb disruptions after staff targeted by 'First Amendment auditor'

Andrew Mack introduced a proposed ordinance to clarify rules governing conduct on city property, saying the change is intended to address nuisance behavior and protect staff time and secure areas. "This would just be codifying some rules or some ordinance around that and how we can use that," Mack said during the agenda review.

Shauna (staff) described incidents involving a self-described First Amendment auditor who, she said, had recorded city staff and posted edited videos on YouTube. "What has happened is this person has recorded city staff and posted it on YouTube by cutting up the video...but he's also recording conversations of people in their offices which is arguably protected and not telling them that he's recording them and posting it on YouTube with their contact information, which has led to some harassing phone calls and some pretty disgusting...emails and phone messages," Shauna said. She added the auditor's repeated visits were consuming staff time, including at the police department, where personnel were spending extended periods responding to requests to provide content for videos.

Staff framed the proposed ordinance as intended to limit disruption to city services while balancing public access: Shauna said the city seeks to limit conduct that interferes with operations rather than to block legitimate public records requests in public areas. The transcript records no formal objections or suggested edits during the agenda review; staff invited questions and said they could provide more detail at the commission meeting.

At the agenda review staff did not present draft ordinance text; the item was described as a codification of rules to address nuisance activity and protect staff and secure workplace areas. Any final ordinance language and legal analysis will be presented to the commission for consideration at the formal meeting.