Since January, the Chino Hills City Council has been grappling with how to handle public comments from a group called Chino Valley 4 Palestinians who have been asking for a cease-fire resolution on the Israel-Hamas War.
City attorney Mark Hensley has been getting heat from residents who are challenging him for not allowing them to talk about the genocide in Gaza, the war, and calls for a cease-fire resolution.
They accused him of suppressing their First Amendment right to speak and of violating the open meeting law, known as the Brown Act.
When asked about the free speech matter, Mr. Hensley responded with the following, which the Champion has chosen to publish in its entirety:
“Under the law as established by the United States Supreme Court and other courts in the country and in California, there are different types of public forums which provide for different restrictions on speech.
A council meeting is considered a “limited public forum” which for purposes of your question means that people have the right to address the Council about matters that are within the City’s jurisdiction.
Under the Brown Act, Government Code 54954.3, it specifically states:
‘(a) Every agenda for regular meetings shall provide an opportunity for members of the public to directly address the legislative body on any item of interest to the public, before or during the legislative body’s consideration of the item that is within the subject matter jurisdiction of the legislative body, provided that no action shall be taken on any item not appearing on the agenda unless the action is otherwise authorized by subdivision.’
As you can see, there is a clear provision in the law that specifically limits what a member of the public has the right to speak about during a council meeting.
As I explained during the Council meeting, wars and pacifying wars are a federal matter and not a local government matter. I understand that some people think that city councils should weigh in on a variety of national and international issues, some of which are incredibly tragic and horrific, but such are not as a legal matter within a city’s subject matter jurisdiction.
There were several speakers who spoke about their experiences in the City and being fearful of hate crimes based upon their ethnicity and/or religious beliefs. These types of statements are within the City’s jurisdiction as the City can take steps through its police department and public communications to attempt to curb such criminal behavior.
I attempted to clarify this point for the speakers, but I am not sure that people heard what I said because there was a lot of shouting that was taking place while I was speaking.
There are completely open public forums in the City where people can express whatever they want, unless they are considered hate speech, incite violence or criminal conduct, or display or depict pornographic material. For example, the area around City Hall, public sidewalks and public parks are considered completely open public forums.”
