Valley council curtails speech
Spokane Valley Mayor Rod Higgins misused the prohibition on Campaigning in Government facilities to squelch a person’s right to free speech during public comment during the Aug. 13, meeting. This is not his first time.
It was the speech of Curtis Robinson, the president of the Spokane Chapter of the NAACP. When Mr. Robinson criticized racist comments that Councilmember Arne Woodard made at a previous council meeting, Mayor Rod Higgins stopped him, quoting prohibitions on using government facilities for campaigning.
Public comment is for the purpose of criticizing actions and speech of elected officials, regardless of whether they’re running for reelection at the time. The prohibition against campaigning on government facilities cannot be used to silence criticism of elected officials at any time.
Additionally, by using their official position to silence criticism during a campaign, they are in fact misusing government facilities for campaigning, a clear violation.
Mr. Robinson’s speech had no campaign message. Speech during public comment should not be silenced simply because it is critical and falls during a reelection period. The Spokane Valley Council has repeatedly misused the prohibition on campaigning to silence speech critical of themselves, and can’t be allowed to continue to do so.
Tom Topping
Millwood