Good, but until he backs down it’s not good enough.
Mayor John Whitmire
Houston City Council tabled Mayor John Whitmire’s proposal to ban targeted protests near residential homes after fierce opposition from pro-Palestine groups, the American Civil Liberties Union of Texas and others over its potential impact on free speech.
The new ordinance seeks to ban picketing within 200 feet of the residence of an individual being targeted by a protest. If passed, it would also prohibit the city from issuing permits for any demonstration in front of a home.
The proposal has sparked backlash from local activists and some council members since it first appeared on the agenda two weeks ago. Many worry it appears to single out a specific group — the pro-Palestinian coalition that has been demonstrating outside the mayor’s own home for the past few months. They also noted existing tools, such as the city’s sound ordinance, already act as safeguards against overly disruptive protests.
Whitmire has vehemently defended the plan, saying the repeated demonstrations outside his residence have raised safety concerns for him and his neighbors. The mayor, however, acknowledged the proposal’s sensitive nature and gained the council’s support on Wednesday to send it to the public safety committee for further discussions.
“In my 50 years of passing legislation and voting on thousands of bills, I’ve never seen a piece of legislation that couldn’t be improved, and this certainly falls in that category,” Whitmire said Wednesday.
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The proposal has also sparked outrage among other advocacy and civil rights groups, including the ACLU of Texas, the Houston branch of the NAACP, the Houston LGBTQ+ Political Caucus and Emgage Action, a nonprofit dedicated to empowering Muslim voters.
Carunya Achar, an engagement coordinator at the ACLU of Texas, said the proposed law would not only impose an unnecessary restriction on free speech but also divert the city’s attention away from more pressing local concerns.
“The ordinance is a poor use of our time and our resources in a city that should be prioritizing disaster recovery and care for all of its citizens,” Achar said. “It is inevitable that people will disagree with one another … It is our responsibility to defend free speech when we vehemently disagree with it because that is the nature of democracy and the crux of it.”
See here for the background. I would hope that over those fifty years the Mayor has also recognized that some bills, no matter what one thinks of their intentions, just don’t need to be passed. We have existing ordinances in place to handle issues with noise, trash, and blocking roads or sidewalks. Let them serve their function. The Houston Landing has more.