Free speech at Los Angeles City Council: 5 must-read headlines

If you ever been to a Los Angeles City Council meeting, you’ll remember them. They’re the gadflies who fill out speaker cards to opine as many agenda items as possible, usually as an excuse to rail against whatever injustice they feel the city has imposed on them.

They’re obnoxious time wasters who infuriate those who want the council meetings to move more efficiently. Yet time and time again, a court has, rightly, side with the gadflies and ruled the City Council has violated the 1st Amendment by cutting off or ejecting two particular activists from meetings. The council has even temporarily banned the plaintiffs -- Matt Dowd and David “Zuma Dogg” Saltsburg – from speaking at city meetings, The Times’ Emily Alpert Reyes reported.

The council’s enforcement of its Rules of Decorum clearly crossed the line, U.S. District Judge Dean D. Pregerson ruled, because in one instance the council tried to silence criticism (and some profanity) directed at the council president, which is political speech and should be protected.

So Dowd and Saltsburg prevailed in court, but what do they get for their trouble? A dollar each in nominal damages.

That’s $2 too much. Dowd and Saltsburg have performed a community service by challenging the city’s problematic enforcement of its Rules of Decorum. An attorney for the ACLU noted that the rules could be used to “chill criticism,” and that concern alone should make the City Council take a hard look at how it handles public-speaking restrictions.

But Dowd and Saltsburg were more like performance artists than political activists. At a certain point in their gadfly evolution, the point of the criticism got lost and their speech was designed more to provoke reaction. They were like children testing the adults to see what they could get away with, until finally Saltsburg and Dowd honed their annoyance skills to such a point that they knew exactly which buttons to push to make City Council members lose their cool.

The two men made their point: Speech is protected, even when it’s really annoying and wastes time. The judgment should be reward enough.

Fake guide dogs come under Senate scrutiny, Sacramento Bee

A growing number of individuals are dressing up their pets in fake gear to bring them where animals are normally prohibited, causing a headache for the disabled and businesses alike.

What L.A. can do to prepare for a drier future, Los Angeles Times

Los Angeles should adopt dual meters and a new price structure for outdoor water use.

L.A. apartment tenants would pay full quake retrofit costs under plan, Los Angeles Times

L.A. building owners can pass on only 50% of the costs of seismic upgrades, but Councilman Bernard C. Parks wants to increase that to 100%.

Concealed weapons permit decision could put Californians in danger, San Jose Mercury News

If the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals’ recent ruling striking down restrictions on concealed-carry gun permits is allowed to stand, California will become a more dangerous place.

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