Willow Glen Resident
News
Rules clarified for public at city council meetings
By Stephen Baxter
Throwing a tantrum at a San Jose City Council meeting may become a thing of the past.
A new code of conduct for residents at city council meetings was approved on Aug. 14, clarifying rules for behavior in the new council chambers. Residents don't typically disrupt San Jose council meetings, but city officials said they wanted to consolidate the rules into one law so the public could understand them.
"I think it's pretty comprehensive, and we tried to make it as clear as possible to people," said deputy city attorney Sandra Lee.
The city attorney's office and clerk's office worked on the rules, which were prompted at least in part by a resident who dropped a bucket of dirt and rainwater on the chamber floor in February. He claimed that a police helicopter blew over his TV antenna and ripped a hole in his roof.
In drafting the rules on ejections and arrests at council meetings, city officials said they waded into dicey First Amendment territory. The code indicates that a member of the public must cause a serious "disturbance" and engage in "disorderly conduct" to be ejected or arrested at a meeting, and courts have upheld that standard.
Disorderly conduct includes trying to break up a council meeting, causing a riot, threatening a council member or defying "any reasonable order of the mayor," according to the code.
Still, San Jose council meetings are usually tame.
"There have been very few disturbances. Generally, people are really well-behaved," said Nancy Alford, San Jose assistant city clerk.
During a meeting in the old city council chambers, city officials said, a group of female residents once jumped on some tables and dug their heels in, damaging the tabletops.
The new rules aim to shut down that kind of behavior.
Members of the public may not clap, shout, boo, hiss or use a cell phone in the chambers. People also may not eat, drink or put their feet on the chair in front of them. Signs brought into the chambers may be no larger than 2 feet by 3 feet, and cannot be attached to sticks or poles, the code says.
Bags, briefcases and purses also are subject to searches.
In the new chambers, at least one San Jose police officer typically attends meetings or uses surveillance cameras to monitor them. At the council's Aug. 7 meeting, at least 20 union members sat in the back rows to hear the council discuss possible changes to city employee retiree benefits.
Five uniformed officers stood in the rear of the chambers, and Lee said the number of officers varies depending on the agenda.
