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Welfare daddy seeks another public handout

Welfare daddy supreme Mel Sembler is seeking ownership of a public sidewalk. The problem is that some people think that just because they have a constitutional right to freely and peacefully express their opinions that they ought to be allowed to do so. Silly people: they actually feel that the constitution is more important than shopping!

Thankfully, a majority of St. Petersburg City Council members may actually agree that allowing safe and legal protests on public property is not necessarily a bad thing.

Hoping to ban demonstrators from BayWalk's main entrance, officials with the entertainment complex want the city to grant them control of the sidewalk in the area.

City Council members have asked administrators to study BayWalk's request, which would convert the sidewalk on the north side of the Second Avenue N, between First and Second streets, into private property.

Craig Sher, president and CEO of the Sembler Co., which owns and manages BayWalk, said moving protesters was among the recommendations that grew out of three recent community forums held to address a January fracas among teens at the complex.

Sher said protesters have hurt businesses and jeopardized public safety. Pedestrians have been pushed or fallen into the street to avoid demonstrators congregating on the sidewalk, he said.

"There have been lots of near misses," Sher said. "There's been screeching brakes and swerving cars. We want our business to thrive and have our customers come in unimpeded."

I've gotta call bullshit on this one. This stretch of road, which runs right through the middle of Bay Walk, is congested with pedestrians and very slow moving cars – it's impossible to drive quickly without causing major mayhem. Further, there are always plenty of cops around to keep protesters from blocking sidewalks, and the protesters know and follow the rules.

In fact, traffic moves so slowly that when I was driving the world famous True Majority Pig Mobile through the area one Saturday night last year, an over-enthusiastic teenage girl ran up to the moving vehicle and jumped onto one of the pigs. I stopped within a few seconds, and by the time I opened my door to shoe her away, 2 cops were already on the scene preparing to call parents and lecture. (They flagged me down a little later to fill me in and get my side of the story)

Anyway, anyone who claims that the protesters are causing a public danger or that the cops are not providing adequate crowd control is completely full of shit.

Now, back to our story...

But St. Petersburg civil rights attorney Marcia Cohen worries granting blanket control of the sidewalk to BayWalk could squelch protesters' constitutional rights.

City laws allow police to keep sidewalks passable and safe, she said.
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Since BayWalk opened in 2000, protesters have gathered along the Second Avenue N sidewalk, usually on Friday or Saturday nights. People must pass the demonstrators to get from a nearby parking garage to BayWalk.

The International People's Democratic Uhuru Movement demonstrated at BayWalk weekly for eight months after one of its members was arrested there. It stopped after BayWalk officials agreed to loosen their code of conduct. The anti-war group, St. Pete for Peace, began staging protests during the buildup to the war in Iraq.

"It's the only place in downtown that's vibrant," said Jay Alexander, a member of St. Pete for Peace. "It's more exposure."

The anti-war group typically has 15 to 50 people at BayWalk. It recently scaled back its presence from weekly to twice a month, on Saturdays between 7 and 9 p.m.

Chris Ernesto, one of the peace group's organizers, said he thinks the battle has been fought and won against limiting protesters at BayWalk.

In July, city officials canned a controversial proposal to bar protesters from BayWalk and Tropicana Field. It would have created "no protest zones" and prohibited demonstrations on the north side of the Second Avenue N sidewalk, among other areas.

"At this juncture we are bestowing our confidence with the City Council to side with the Constitution," Ernesto said. "It's a public sidewalk. It's for use by the public, which includes protesters as defined by our Constitution."

Many council members acknowledged they are wary of giving up control of a sidewalk to move protesters.

"There are a lot of ramifications," council member Virginia Littrell said. "If we do it for BayWalk, do we do it for everyone? In St. Petersburg we try to make sure we treat everyone equally."

Council member James Bennett said he sympathizes with BayWalk officials, but would prefer exploring the idea of closing Second Avenue N to traffic, temporarily on weekends, or permanently.

"Legislating for one part of the sidewalk, I'm not necessarily in favor of doing," Bennett said.

"I don't know if we're ready to cross that bridge."

Council member Jay Lasita, who is undecided on the issue, said he's more amenable to selling the public property to BayWalk instead of just handing it over. "That way it becomes a business transaction," he said.

St. Pete for Peace will be protesting at BayWalk this Saturday . Everyone is welcome.