Anti-illegal immigrant activist arrested at Novato meeting

[Commander Bunny]

http://www.marinij.com/marinnews/ci_16083342

Police arrested lawyer and immigration activist Jerome Ghigliotti at Novato's City Council meeting Tuesday night and led him away in handcuffs after the council declared his actions in support of the city's controversial E-Verify ballot measure to be out of order.
Ghigliotti, a spokesman for Citizens for Legal Employment and Contracting, had planned to criticize the Novato council for refusing to place a measure on the Nov. 2 ballot that would require contractors working for the city to determine the immigration status of their employees using a federal database. Although Ghigliotti's group obtained signatures from 12 percent of the city's registered voters - more than the 10 percent required to place a measure on the ballot - city officials have declined to sign off on a measure that would conflict with federal law.

As he has in the past, Ghigliotti rose to speak Tuesday during the council's "open time" for public comment - but turned his back on the council, preferring to address the audience at Novato's City Hall.

His refusal to address the council or respond to its requests led Mayor Jeanne MacLeamy to call a recess. While the council left its chambers, Novato Police Chief Joseph Kreins approached Ghigliotti and asked him to stop speaking.

"I told him, 'You need to sit down and stop disturbing this meeting. If not, you will be under arrest,'" Kreins said. "He said to me, 'You do your job and I'll do my job,' and he went on reading his statement."

Kreins and another officer handcuffed Ghigliotti and removed him from the building.
"He definitely was disruptive to the meeting," Councilwoman Denise Athas said. "I think the mayor did exactly the right thing. It's not a good thing for the town to witness that kind of disruption."

Athas said the council was concerned not only by Ghigliotti's actions Tuesday, but by comments he made during the Aug. 24 meeting that appeared threatening to council members.

"He started talking about his belief that the council had taken away the rights of citizens to vote, and then he rambled on in a diatribe about illegal immigrants killing people," Kreins said. "Towards the end of his statement, he said - and we have this on tape - 'But they (the council) already know about these people, and they're ignoring them. I've never done so in the past, but I do so now. I wish one of the council members' son or daughter or granddaughter was murdered or raped by an illegal alien.'"

Ghigliotti admits he made the statement, but said he has not personally threatened any member of the council or her family.

"I said what I said in order to bring them to reality," Ghigliotti said. "It's like telling someone if they cross the street against a red light, they might be hit by a car. Their conduct would precipitate this."

Novato police placed Ghigliotti in a police cruiser, brought him across the street to police headquarters and issued him a citation for disturbance of a public meeting, a misdemeanor. He is scheduled to appear in Marin Superior Court at 1 p.m. Oct. 5.

After his booking, Ghigliotti was released, he said, "on the promise that I would not go to the meeting." He said he is seeking legal counsel for his Oct. 5 hearing.

"He's not banned from any future meeting," Kreins said. "He is welcome to attend any at any time. All we ask is that he follow the rules, common sense and decorum, and treat everyone respectfully. That's all anybody asks of the public attending a meeting."

Ghigliotti insists his appearances at Novato's council meetings are on behalf of those voters who want to see the E-Verify system become a Novato requirement. The city already uses the system to check the status of its own workers, but does not do so for its contractors.

Council members say they're taking no action on the matter on the advice of City Attorney Jeff Walter and City Manager Michael Frank. Both have urged them not to support a measure that could be declared unconstitutional, because it would allow the city to punish offenders in matters that fall under federal jurisdiction.

Marin County Registrar of Voters Elaine Ginnold said that while the council is generally expected to place a measure supported by enough valid signatures on an election ballot, there is no deadline by which it must do so.

"When an election is held is up to the city. Just because they're not holding it right now doesn't mean they will not have an election," Ginnold said.

[Ayatollahgondola]

Oh great...

It's now illegal to address other citizens during a public meeting. This guy needs our help

[Commander Bunny]

There's another story in the same poor excuse of a newspaper that came out prior to this stories release on how the Novato City Council meetings video footage seemed to be "missing", the same meeting in which this particular incident happened.
I truly believe he has a very good chance on suing the pants off of the Novato City Council.
What do You think SZ?

[Commander Bunny]

http://www.marinij.com/opinion/ci_16178134

NOVATO LAWYER Jerome Ghigliotti has every right to voice his frustration over the Novato City Council's decision to hold his anti-illegal immigration initiative in legal limbo.
But if he is going to use a City Council session as the venue in which to air his complaints, he needs to respect and abide by reasonable rules of order and decorum used during the meetings.

Ghigliotti was arrested at the Sept. 14 meeting after he rose to address the council during "open time," a period during every council meeting when people can step forward and voice their opinion.

In Novato, because its council meetings are televised, it is not uncommon for people to announce upcoming community events during open time. Others are more pointed than polite when they speak on issues.

Most, however, abide by the rules that have been set. They respectfully address the council and hold their comments to within the time limit, which often is two to three minutes.

Ghigliotti is one of the leaders of an initiative that would require the city to force its contractors to run their workers through E-Verify, an Internet program used to verify that workers are U.S. citizens or have the proper immigration documentation.

Backers of the initiative say E-Verify is an easy way to assure that public funds are not being used to hire illegal immigrants, especially at a time when citizens need the work.

Ghigliotti and others collected enough signatures to require the city to hold an election on their initiative. The council also could adopt the initiative and avoid an election. But what the council has done is follow its attorney's advice and wait until constitutional questions about the city adopting its own immigration policy are answered.
That leaves the initiative in limbo.

Ghigliotti wanted the initiative on November's ballot, but county Registrar of Voters Elaine Ginnold says that when an election is held is up to the city.

Ghigliotti has a fair gripe. He has the right to stand up at council meetings and express his opinion during open time. He argues that the council is ignoring all those residents who signed the initiative.

But he's not entitled to disrupt a public meeting or ignore its rules. Mayor Jeanne MacLeamy's request that Ghigliotti face and address the council rather than turn his back on members as he spoke was fair, reasonable and respectful.

When he refused, she called a recess in the meeting. Ghigliotti kept speaking, even after he was warned by Police Chief Joseph Kreins that he would be arrested for disrupting a public meeting.

Kreins followed through with his warning after Ghigliotti refused to comply.

Ghigliotti was removed from the meeting and was cited for disturbing a public meeting.

But he's not banned from attending future meetings and expressing his opinion.

Perhaps next time he will respect the rules everyone else is asked to follow.

Rather than publicity-seeking antics, Ghigliotti and supporters of the E-Verify initiative should focus on resolving constitutional issues that so far have kept it off the ballot.


I especially like the 'Perhaps next time he will respect the rules everyone else is asked to follow"-bit, pretty ironic I'd say.
He addresses the audience with his back turned-away from the City Council Members, and arrested for not following the "Robinson rule", by a City Coucil the refuses to follow federal laws in regard to hiring illegal aliens for City Contractors.

Marin's too weird.