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Performer tells Seattle committee waterfront 'free‑speech' boxes amount to prior restraint
Summary
A waterfront performer told the Housing, Arts and Civil Rights Committee that the city’s designation of a small number of 'free‑speech' boxes on the waterfront has led to arrests and bans outside those zones and destabilizes artists’ livelihoods.
During public comment, Clive Hayward, who said he performed on the Seattle waterfront for 11 years, criticized city enforcement that restricts where street performers can work. He described five painted 'blue boxes' the city designates as free‑speech zones and said that performing outside them can lead to police calls, bans and even arrest.
Hayward framed the issue as both a free‑speech matter and an economic one, saying arbitrary enforcement has forced performers to leave the waterfront and undermined families who depend on the work. Committee members acknowledged the comment as part of the public comment period; the substantive agenda item that followed concerned rental fee regulation.
