Irvine’s Mayor and Free Speech

Without public notice or council discussion, Irvine’s Mayor Sally Ann Sheridan has unilaterally decided to limit the amount of time that members of the community may take to address the council and to specify that no individual may criticize an employee of the city, including members of the council, at a public meeting of the City Council.

Irvine’s love affair with free speech has come to an abrupt end as the “orange curtain� continues its ominous descent.

Free speech in Irvine is out and prior restraint of public discussion is in!

Only time will tell how long Irvine’s residents will tolerate Mayor Sheridan’s assault on free and open debate at their City Hall.

Mayor Sheridan’s decision to abridge freedom of speech in Irvine ironically came only days after Justice William Brennan stepped down from the U.S. Supreme Court. A vigilant defender of the First Amendment, Justice Brennan viewed free and open public debate as the cornerstone of a democratic society.

Irvine’s mayor would be well-advised by the city attorney to review Brennan’s opinion in the landmark case of New York Times vs. Sullivan (1964), where he stated: “Debate on public issues should be uninhibited, robust, and wide open, and . . . it may well include vehement, caustic, and sometimes unpleasantly sharp attacks on government and public officials.�

In pursuit of feigned civility, Mayor Sheridan’s action challenges the connection free speech makes possible between elected officials and constituents in a representative republic, namely political accountability.

Not only does Mayor Sheridan’s action limit how much public input the council can receive from residents, but it is also intended to “chill� criticism of the council and its members by those residents who would dare to take seriously their responsibilities as citizens in a representative republic.

MARK P. PETRACCA

Irvine