A Santa Claus in Council chambers
By far the most contentious debate at last night’s meeting of the Pensacola City Council was concerning an ordinance regulating use of Plaza Ferdinand VII. The ordinance would have barred the Winterfest organisation from continuing many of its activities in the Plaza, so they came in force to plead their case, going so far as to bring a costumed Santa Claus whose “helper” attempted to distribute lumps of coal to Council members.
The proposed ordinance was developed in response to pending federal litigation against the City. That suit was filed by a church group who was barred from holding regular prayer groups/picnics in the park under a 1987 Council policy which essentially prohibits “events” in the Plaza Ferdinand VII. Council’s desire at the time was apparently to preserve Plaza Ferdinand VII as the City’s premiere park and prevent damage to its grass and landscaping. The proposed ordinance would allow very limited use of the Plaza during the months of June, July, and August (when grass could best recover) but explicitly bans vendors, booths, stages, and utility hookups.
Winterfest is an annual festival that takes place in November and December which is focused on Plaza Ferdinand VII, with displays, booths, and choirs set up there. Its use of the Plaza despite the 1987 policy appears to have been the result of a combination of special exceptions granted by Council and lax enforcement of the policy. Faced with a formal ordinance which would end their use of the Plaza, several Winterfest organisers and a Santa Claus showed up to ask Council to reconsider.
What followed was a contentious debate, with some Council members advocating opening up the Plaza to use by all, some looking to find some sort of compromise, and others supporting adoption of the ordinance in order to keep unsavoury elements out of the Plaza. Councilman John Jerralds argued that Plaza Ferdinand VII shouldn’t be treated specially, that the 1987 policy should be rescinded and the City’s special events regulations for other parks extended to the Plaza. Councilman P.C. Wu looked for alternatives, asking the Winterfest organisers if they could use another location such as Seville Square (a suggestion to which they did not sound very open). Councilwoman Diane Mack appeared to have trouble finding politically correct words to describe the homeless who sometimes occupy the Plaza, calling them “certain elements” that can “intimidate” people going down to the Plaza and surrounding businesses.
In the end, Council essentially did nothing, voting 6-3 to send the proposed ordinance back to staff to try to work out some compromise that allows continued usage by the Winterfest folks but still places protections on the Plaza. Council members Hall, DeWeese, and Mack dissented.
UPDATE: See also Jamie Page’s story “Park still open to Santa” at pnj.com.
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Those “certain elements” certainly are intimidating! I remember one time when I was just minding my own business at Plaza Ferdinand, a whole gang of those ruffians came over, knocked the ice cream out of my hand, pulled my pants down, and made sexually suggestive remarks about the women in my family.
Oh, wait, no they didn’t. They just sit there on the benches, as people tend to do in parks. I’ve never even been panhandled. “Sitting while homeless” is a serious offense indeed.
I wonder what Winterfest’s objection to Seville Square is. It is a larger space and has a Gazebo which could come in quite handy for Santa and his helpers during inclimate weather.
wanderinghoo: They said that the streets around Seville Square are too small to load the tour buses. They also argued that that they wanted to keep it in the DIB district, which Seville Square is not in. The DIB was the originator of the event and remains a sponsor.
so because the “so called” revenend monk can’t use the city park as his church and have unlimited access for unlimited activities
there can be no scheduled events at the park for the general public?
lawsuits work here-logic doesn’t
This doesn’t really have much to do with the St. Faustina suit… that was just the impetus for all of this. Council decided in 1987 that scheduled events for the general public should be banned. They were essentially just selectively enforcing it. They cannot selectively enforce it anymore, because that’s why they got sued.
They can make it open for everyone under certain conditions (times, permitting, rules) or open for no one. That’s the law, in the opinion of the City Attorney’s office (and mine, for what it’s worth).
So City staff says open it up, but just a little bit, only 3 months a year, with permits, and no stages, vendors, electricity, etc. — because the original goal of the 1987 policy was to protect the grass and landscaping at the Plaza.
Council’s other option is that they could rescind the 1987 policy and let the normal requirements and permitting for all other parks apply the Plaza Ferdinand.
I’m not sure what I would favor, myself.
Selective enforcement of the codes and special codes for this park?
Don’t know why one park would be permitted any differently than any other park .
They all have grass and maintenance requirements.
Selective enforcement of the codes are the norm for this city. They do not only extend to parks, they are also selectively enforced in all other areas of city government. In Pensacolas cse the Asylum is being run by the inmates (employees).
Why have a “public park” if the public can not use it, including church groups and the homeless?
If there are forces on the council that want to shut out a certain segment of the public, fence it off and allow no one to use it but the birds and squirrels.