The Winston-Salem Journal says the City Council should deny Occupy Winston-Salem a campsite permit:
Councilman Derwin Montgomery, a member of the public safety committee, said, “We live in America, and in America, regardless of if you like what a person says, they have a right to express their opinion.”
We agree, and think most city residents would as well. But First Amendment rights don’t include a right to camp on public property for 15 days, potentially creating problems of public sanitation and safety. Ironically, the protesters pushing, in part, for better wages would be creating problems for police officers and firefighters who work hard for modest wages. Because of such expensive problems, officials in other cities, including New York, have ended camping by Occupy movements.
Allowing camping here would raise other questions as well, such as: Who else gets to camp? The homeless, who could argue they need camps more than anyone else, haven’t been allowed to set up large camps in the center of downtown. More protest groups might want to camp as well.
Glad to see the local paper of record at least gets it. I just cracked on Mayor Allen Joines and the council; hope they make me look bad.
