Here is the much-anticipated post–the finale in the Wilmington annexation abuse series.  Part I, Part II, and Part 2.5, don’t rival Part III in terms of abuse.  It is like the finale of Lord of the Rings, except without the hobbits.

On April 7, 2009, the city of Wilmington held its public hearing on the forced annexation of Monkey Junction.  The hearing was held on the second floor of City Hall.

Many people (possibly hundreds) of people were told they could not enter the public hearing because it allegedly was too crowded.  The police and city staff (or its apparent agents) told individuals that were peacefully gathered on the first floor that they must leave the building because the first floor wasn’t owned by the city.  Even a simple request such as asking the citizens to remain quiet was not provided.

As a result, these individuals did in fact leave the building and many went outside and protested.  Eventually, some of these individuals got into the public hearing, but many likely went home.

1) First Amendment

As it turns out, the city lied to the the individuals waiting on the first floor of the building.  The entire building is in fact owned by the city.

The city should have known that the second floor meeting room would have been too small for a public hearing on forced annexation.  The city in fact did have another room available on the first floor that it did not use.

Despite this poor planning, the city had numerous alternatives to allow people to have a voice in the hearing.  The city could have developed a list for people that wanted to provide comments at the hearing, and then take them up one at a time.  The city could have brought people up as others left the meeting.  The city could have asked those in attendance at the meeting to consider leaving after they made comments so that others could come up.  None of this was done.

There certainly was no reason for kicking people out of the first floor of a public building. 

On April 7, 2009, the First Amendment rights of possibly hundreds of people were violated by the city of Wilmington.

There should be a full scale investigation to determine who directed the police and city officials to lie and restrict free speech and deny citizens the right to peacefully assemble.  City officials should have known (as any reasonable–or even unreasonable–person would have) that such actions were unconstitutional.  Personal liability should be imposed for any official that acted under color of state law to violate the rights of citizens.

2) Annexation

Violating the annexation statute should be the least of Wilmington’s worries.  However, there once again is clear annexation abuse.

At a public hearingall persons resident or owning property in the territory described in the notice of public hearing, and all residents of the municipality, shall be given an opportunity to be heard.” [Emphasis added]

The city quite simply didn’t meet this requirement and it easily could have met the requirement.

Tomorrow, on May 5, 2009, the city of Wilmington will be voting on whether to forcibly annex the citizens of Monkey Junction.  Instead, the city, and possibly some city officials, should use the time to get some good lawyers.