JUDGE GIVES RECALL DRIVE THE GREEN LIGHT IN SUISUN, CA
Backers of a movement to recall Suisun CITY Mayor Pete Sanchez and two council members will be allowed to collect petition signatures at two locations of the Heritage Shopping Center, a Solano County Superior Court judge ruled today.
Mark Merin, attorney for the recall group Save Our Suisun, said Judge Paul Beeman agreed the shopping center is a quasi-public forum for the expression of free speech and ruled the petitioners can collect signatures in the monument area of the mall and at the Ace Hardware store.
“Both sides will agree to a stipulated order,” Merin said. Save Our Suisun is still appealing the judge’s earlier decision prohibiting the petitioners from collecting signatures in front of the Raley’s supermarket, Merin said.
Merin called the judge’s ruling “a limited victory” because the judge recognized the shopping center as a quasi-public forum. Petitioners, however, will not be able to freely roam through the shopping center gathering petitions, Merin said.
Petitioners will be able to collect signatures at the two locations six hours a day, six days a week, Merin said. Another hearing on the issue is scheduled for Aug. 1, Merin said.
Linda Ward, the attorney for the shopping center was not immediately available for comment.
The Heritage Shopping Center’s owner asked the court for a temporary restraining order prohibiting the group from gathering the signatures on private property.
The Save Our Suisun group wants to recall Sanchez and council members Jane Day and Michael Hudson.
The group claims they have risked the public’s safety by approving a 227,000-square-foot Wal-Mart SuperCenter on 21 acres at state Highway 12 and Walters Road near Travis Air Force Base over the objections of public safety experts, including the county’s Airport Land Use Commission and the California Department of Transportation.
Merin said the California Supreme Court ruled in 1979 that the PruneYard shopping center in San Jose was obligated to allow free expressive speech even on its private property and must yield to the public interest.
He said Suisun City has no central downtown and that malls have become the new public market places in many communities.
Save Our Suisun is already appealing the court ruling that prohibited signature gathering outside Rayley’s, Merin said.
“This is a very significant question for all free speech activity. This (the mall) is the preferred venue,” Merin said.
Save Our Suisun has until Aug. 8 to gather enough signatures to put the recall measure on the Nov. 4 ballot.
Posted by Tony Calero on Wednesday, July 16, 2008
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