Garofalo angered by protest signs at city party
Eron Ben-Yehuda
HUNTINGTON BEACH -- New Mayor Dave Garofalo -- who has pledged to ‘listen
carefully’ to opposing views -- apparently found it difficult to keep his
word last week and turned over a protester’s sign at a taxpayer-funded
holiday party for city employees.
Resident Kevin Cox, a member of a group that opposes bringing Wal-Mart
into town, put up various signs around the parking lot and near the
entrance to the room in the Huntington Beach Mall, where the party took
place Dec. 9.
The signs accused City Council members who approved the retailer’s
project, including Garofalo, of being ‘totally corrupt,’ having ‘sold
out,’ and suggested they be recalled.
After attending the festivities, Garofalo walked over to one of the signs
in the mall’s parking lot and turned it over. The sign read ‘Don’t Let
the Four ‘Sold Out’ City Council Members Control Development in HB.’
Garofalo, sworn in as mayor Dec. 6, defended his action as his own form
of protest.
‘I exercised my right to free expression,’ he said.
Attorney Debbie Cook, a resident, said Garofalo interfered with the
protester’s right to free speech.
‘You’d think he would know better,’ she said.
City Councilman Ralph Bauer, a strong backer of Wal-Mart’s plans, also
disagreed with the new mayor’s conduct.
‘I don’t touch anybody’s sign,’ he said. ‘It’s just a matter of
principle.’
Cox belongs to Crest View United, and its leaders wondered what motivated
Garofalo’s behavior.
‘Are you just afraid of the truth?,’ Barbara Boscovich asked of Garofalo.
Rather than pursuing any legal action against Garofalo, group members
said they would rather focus their energy on blocking Wal-Mart’s project
by campaigning in favor of a March 7 ballot initiative that would rezone
the site where the retailer plans to build.
‘We have to concentrate on the initiative,’ said Marvin Josephson.
The party itself went off without a hitch, city officials said.
Because some residents criticized the party as a waste of money,
officials said they would provide a detailed accounting of its cost by
next week. The information could not be provided earlier because figuring
out the ‘direct’ and ‘indirect’ costs takes a long time, city officials
said.
The latest estimate for the party is $20,000.
QUESTION
FREE EXPRESSION?
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employee holiday luncheon? Leave your thoughts on our Readers Hotline at
965-7175, send a fax to 965-7174 or e-mail to hbindy@latimes.com. Please
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