Here are four reasons to be suspicious of the “unlawful assemblies” ordinances coming up for a vote on Monday.
1. The “unlawful assemblies” and counterpart “unlawful weapons” ordinances came out of nowhere on the January 11. Council did not ask for them. There have been no discussions of why the PD needs another tool. The city attorney took on an extra-curricular activity of his own volition. That is not his role.
2. The ordinances were received and filed (first reading) on the 11th, and the draft has been changed since then — that’s right, the ordinances the council might vote into law on Monday are not the same ones that went through first reading. They’ve been privately changing them since the 11th. And considering what’s happened in the past (city voted on a different version of the contract with CivicPlus than was in the agenda packet) we actually can’t with certainty know what they are voting on Monday.
3. If council hadn’t canceled its second regular meeting for the month of December, this might have passed before the NIU students came back. Large assemblies in public spaces are, as we all know, something the students engage in more often than anyone else in DeKalb. Where’s the stake holder input?
4. Bizarrely, the city attorney used major cities across the country as “comparable communities” to DeKalb. That means he was not particularly tuned in to Illinois law, and it shows because the ordinances are not in fact in line with our own statutes, which would have been the best way to help ensure the ordinances pass Constitutional muster.
The fixation on major cities (the smallest of which is still 10 times larger than DeKalb) also suggests this is not really meant to be a local ordinance. Rather, the city attorney seems to have written the ordinances for the national stage. If so, we should let him go so he can pursue his dreams of stardom.
More:
Chronicle: “DeKalb Considering Unlawful Assembly Ordinances” Consider taking the poll in the far right column, too.
Letter to the Editor: “Assembly Laws Should go through City Commissions”
City of DeKalb: Regular meeting agenda for January 25, 2016 On the third page, find items G7 and G8. Click on an item to reach the backup material.