NC city mulls rules change for Occupy protesters (city hall no longer public property)

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. (AP) -- City council members in Winston-Salem have postponed a vote on an ordinance that would have temporarily declared city hall is no longer public property.

Some council members said they were uncomfortable voting on the changes without advance notice or a public hearing.

...ordinance that would have temporarily declared city hall is no longer public property.

Thought that was kinda strange. What kind of property would it be - government?

Years ago I saw a homeless man peeing on an exhibit in the Smithsonian. I told a guard and he said, “If I see them do that, I can throw them out, but they come right back in. This is a public building and I’m powerless to keep out the public. The best I can do is throw them out when we close.”

Every city library I’m aware of has problems with public urination, rapes, assaults and vandalism caused by the homeless. When I was a kid there was no homeless problem because the cops ran them off. Leon County, Fl has offered the local homeless shelter operators a tax free, spectacular facility at the edge of the count. But the shelter owners stated, “No. We want to keep the homeless in-your-face until the government solves the problem.” Oh, yeah. That’s a problem you can solve by just providing free homes. Denver tried that. The homeless wouldn’t stay in the homes.

The Occupy crowd provide us with yet another similar problem. Perhaps the answer is that the public can use the facility for the purpose intended and only that purpose.

Declaring city hall to be private property sets a VERY BAD precedent, one that almost certainly violates First Amendment protections of our right to peacefully petition government for redress of grievances.

Is it just me, or is this whole country on the Autobahn to Hell?

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