North County Times
Clapping has become risky business at Escondido City Council meetings, where Mayor Sam Abed has threatened to have police remove people for applauding speakers they agree with.
Abed began warning council audiences against clapping and applause when he took over as mayor one year ago, and he got more aggressive this month during two tumultuous meetings where several speakers loudly criticized city elections as unfair to Latinos.
"I want to make it very clear that applause, standing, cheering and whistling is not allowed in this council chamber," Abed told the large crowd gathered for the Dec. 14 meeting. "If somebody violates these rules, they will be respectfully asked to leave. If they don't leave the council chamber, they will be escorted by our police."
Abed defended his approach during an interview last week, saying that applause is disruptive, lengthens council meetings and polarizes the audience.
"It's about making sure a public meeting proceeds in a timely and orderly way," said Abed. "If you let it continue, it will get worse. People should show their dissent with what they say, not by disrupting the meeting."
But critics of Abed's policy say it's an unnecessary overreaction and might be a violation of free speech rights. They also dispute whether clapping creates delays, saying that most of the applause takes place while one speaker is preparing to replace another at the podium.
Free speech
"When the community wants to express approval during a council meeting, it should have that opportunity," said Roy Garrett, a local attorney who frequently criticizes and questions city policies at council meetings. "I think it's an overreaction and that the policy is really unnecessary."
Resident Tooney Pearce told Abed during the Dec. 14 meeting that his policy violates First Amendment free speech protections.
"Draconian would be a very good word for it," Pearce said in an interview last week, adding that she had no plans to comply with the policy. "If I agree with what somebody said, I'm going to clap."
Garrett and Pearce also disputed Abed's claims that clapping lengthens the meeting and forces him to give other speakers less time at the podium.
"He takes more time telling people not to clap than it takes for people to clap," Pearce said.
Applause intimidating?
Abed also said that loud and boisterous clapping was a weapon that some groups, especially labor unions, have used to intimidate the council at recent meetings.
"Clapping can be OK on rare occasions, such as a milestone like adopting a balanced budget for the first time in years," said Abed. "But these union guys want to do it after every speaker."
Abed said the applause by such groups often escalates into whistling and cheering, which creates an "us versus them" atmosphere at meetings.
But Tom Lemmon, business manager of San Diego's Building and Construction Trades Council, said Abed was exaggerating.
"He's like a dictator up there," said Lemmon, contending that Abed was responsible for polarizing the audience at meetings. "We've been absolutely cordial every time we've been there and we've never disrupted his meetings."
Mayor Lori Holt Pfeiler, who led Escondido's council meetings from 1998 to 2010, said Abed might be guilty of practicing the wrong execution of the right idea.
Soft but firm advised
"If you can get the crowd to work with you, it's better not to have clapping," said Pfeiler, who credited previous mayors Sid Hollins and Jerry Harmon for explaining the concept to her. "If the audience claps after every speaker, meetings can get really long and you can really lose control."
But Pfeiler said it's unwise to take an adversarial or confrontational approach.
"You have to listen to the audience and make a connection," she said. "You should allow a little polite clapping if you don't think it will escalate. You don't want to seem like you're trying to have control over everything."
Two of Abed's colleagues on the council, Marie Waldron and Olga Diaz, said they support Abed's goal of making meetings efficient and orderly. But they also suggested he might have become too aggressive recently.
"To me, clapping is something people can do if they aren't disrupting the meeting," said Waldron, who has served on the council since 1998. "But I'm not the mayor, so it's not up to me. He's done a very good job keeping our meetings moving quickly since he became mayor."
Diaz was more critical.
"A lot of people feel the mayor is trying to rule with an iron fist," said Diaz, who has served since 2008. "It's reasonable for the mayor to set ground rules, but I've never seen the applause get out of control in our council chambers."
Diaz said threatening people with removal by police seemed "over the line," suggesting that Pfeiler, the former mayor, was much better at reading the tenor of an audience.
"She would ask people not to applaud in a way that would settle the room, but nobody got offended," said Diaz. "But Mayor Abed is more authoritative, and people don't react as well to that."
Abed began warning council audiences against clapping and applause when he took over as mayor one year ago, and he got more aggressive this month during two tumultuous meetings where several speakers loudly criticized city elections as unfair to Latinos.
"I want to make it very clear that applause, standing, cheering and whistling is not allowed in this council chamber," Abed told the large crowd gathered for the Dec. 14 meeting. "If somebody violates these rules, they will be respectfully asked to leave. If they don't leave the council chamber, they will be escorted by our police."
Abed defended his approach during an interview last week, saying that applause is disruptive, lengthens council meetings and polarizes the audience.
"It's about making sure a public meeting proceeds in a timely and orderly way," said Abed. "If you let it continue, it will get worse. People should show their dissent with what they say, not by disrupting the meeting."
But critics of Abed's policy say it's an unnecessary overreaction and might be a violation of free speech rights. They also dispute whether clapping creates delays, saying that most of the applause takes place while one speaker is preparing to replace another at the podium.
Free speech
"When the community wants to express approval during a council meeting, it should have that opportunity," said Roy Garrett, a local attorney who frequently criticizes and questions city policies at council meetings. "I think it's an overreaction and that the policy is really unnecessary."
Resident Tooney Pearce told Abed during the Dec. 14 meeting that his policy violates First Amendment free speech protections.
"Draconian would be a very good word for it," Pearce said in an interview last week, adding that she had no plans to comply with the policy. "If I agree with what somebody said, I'm going to clap."
Garrett and Pearce also disputed Abed's claims that clapping lengthens the meeting and forces him to give other speakers less time at the podium.
"He takes more time telling people not to clap than it takes for people to clap," Pearce said.
Applause intimidating?
Abed also said that loud and boisterous clapping was a weapon that some groups, especially labor unions, have used to intimidate the council at recent meetings.
"Clapping can be OK on rare occasions, such as a milestone like adopting a balanced budget for the first time in years," said Abed. "But these union guys want to do it after every speaker."
Abed said the applause by such groups often escalates into whistling and cheering, which creates an "us versus them" atmosphere at meetings.
But Tom Lemmon, business manager of San Diego's Building and Construction Trades Council, said Abed was exaggerating.
"He's like a dictator up there," said Lemmon, contending that Abed was responsible for polarizing the audience at meetings. "We've been absolutely cordial every time we've been there and we've never disrupted his meetings."
Mayor Lori Holt Pfeiler, who led Escondido's council meetings from 1998 to 2010, said Abed might be guilty of practicing the wrong execution of the right idea.
Soft but firm advised
"If you can get the crowd to work with you, it's better not to have clapping," said Pfeiler, who credited previous mayors Sid Hollins and Jerry Harmon for explaining the concept to her. "If the audience claps after every speaker, meetings can get really long and you can really lose control."
But Pfeiler said it's unwise to take an adversarial or confrontational approach.
"You have to listen to the audience and make a connection," she said. "You should allow a little polite clapping if you don't think it will escalate. You don't want to seem like you're trying to have control over everything."
Two of Abed's colleagues on the council, Marie Waldron and Olga Diaz, said they support Abed's goal of making meetings efficient and orderly. But they also suggested he might have become too aggressive recently.
"To me, clapping is something people can do if they aren't disrupting the meeting," said Waldron, who has served on the council since 1998. "But I'm not the mayor, so it's not up to me. He's done a very good job keeping our meetings moving quickly since he became mayor."
Diaz was more critical.
"A lot of people feel the mayor is trying to rule with an iron fist," said Diaz, who has served since 2008. "It's reasonable for the mayor to set ground rules, but I've never seen the applause get out of control in our council chambers."
Diaz said threatening people with removal by police seemed "over the line," suggesting that Pfeiler, the former mayor, was much better at reading the tenor of an audience.
"She would ask people not to applaud in a way that would settle the room, but nobody got offended," said Diaz. "But Mayor Abed is more authoritative, and people don't react as well to that."
Call staff writer David Garrick at 760-740-5468
Read more: http://www.nctimes.com/news/local/escondido/escondido-mayor-s-anti-clapping-policy-criticized/article_9b36a0fa-4252-5ad5-9b2a-f8eb7b9a9ed0.html#ixzz1hZE99tPe
Read more: http://www.nctimes.com/news/local/escondido/escondido-mayor-s-anti-clapping-policy-criticized/article_9b36a0fa-4252-5ad5-9b2a-f8eb7b9a9ed0.html#ixzz1hZE99tPe