City to develop permit so other groups can paint the street too – Laredo Morning Times

Shown is an aerial rendering for the street mural planned for outside the federal courthouse in Laredo.

Shown is an aerial rendering for the street mural planned for outside the federal courthouse in Laredo.

Photo: Courtesy Of The No Border Wall Coalition

Shown is an aerial rendering for the street mural planned for outside the federal courthouse in Laredo.

Shown is an aerial rendering for the street mural planned for outside the federal courthouse in Laredo.

City to develop permit so other groups can paint the street too

Laredo City Councils decision last week to allow the local No Border Wall Coalition to paint DEFUND THE WALL on the street in front of the federal courthouse was hashed out again on Monday, and it turned into a conversation about fairness in freedom of speech.

Hordes of Laredoans, both for and against this project, submitted public comments that were read aloud to council.

If you are going to allow dummies to paint a mural in front of the federal courthouse on Victoria Street, you also need to have one painted that says Laredoans for the wall on the same street, right beside it. If you dont, this will show you guys are racist and biased. So its both, or nothing at all, wrote Joel H.

Antonia Taylor, a law student and daughter of a retired Border Patrol supervisor, said this mural is a way to peacefully demonstrate Laredos bonds with its sister city Nuevo Laredo.

We spent years nurturing our relationship with them by holding ceremonies like the Abrazo Children just to erect a wall in their face. I think thats ridiculous and not the message Laredo stands for. Whether the wall is funded or not may be out of our control, but our message regarding how we feel about it is not, she wrote.

Several other people noted that in the past two months, cities all over the country have allowed activist groups to paint large street murals with messages like Black Lives Matter.

But all of these cities have street painting ordinances, noted Acting City Attorney and Assistant City Manager Kristina Hale.

The city has already gotten multiple requests from members of the community who also want to paint on the street, but the city doesnt have a permitting process for this, she said.

The question here is whether everybody is allowed the same use of city resources. So as long we let every message, every person have the same rights to paint on the streets, and the same opportunity, then that would be permitted in the First Amendment and our own ethics code, Hale said.

Carlos Flores, an attorney representing landowners fighting the governments attempt to build the wall on their property and a member of the No Border Wall Coalition, said he agreed with this analysis.

If its going to be protected free speech for one group, it should be protected free speech for another group, Flores said. So you have one group thats against the wall and one group thats for the wall. The city cant decide, Hey, Im going to prefer one over the other.

The city is recognizing the No Border Wall Coalitions First Amendment rights by allowing them to complete this mural, and still recognizing the First Amendment rights of others by creating a permit process that would allow them to do the same, he said.

The No Border Wall Coalitions mural design was also presented to the citys traffic engineer, who deemed their location choice unsafe, Hale noted. City Manager Robert Eads said the mural probably wont be yellow, as it was presented, because it could confuse drivers. And the paint they use will be removable, he said.

Councilman Roberto Balli made a motion that city staff develop an ordinance for this kind of street permit and present it to council in October. Since council had already approved the No Border Wall Coalitions project, he motioned for it to be allowed to move forward in the meantime.

This was approved by council members Rudy Gonzalez, Vidal Rodriguez, Merc Martinez, Marte Martinez and Balli.

Council members George Altgelt and Nelly Vielma, who had voted in favor of this project last week, voted against after hearing so many of their constituents disapprove.

Vielma said she agrees with the coalitions message, which is why she voted to approve the mural last week, but shes a stickler for ethics and thinks council should be unbiased.

She also heard from many of her constituents in law enforcement who have said that the message to defund the wall is akin to a dangerous movement to defund the police. Council needs to show their support for law enforcement officers and Border Patrol agents, Vielma said.

Councilman Gonzalez said that Laredo Police officers have already sent him a rendering of a message they would like to paint on a local street to back the blue.

Altgelt expressed concern about the perceived political message of defund the wall and the potential safety issues that the mural could bring to Victoria Street.

Flores said he was not surprised to see council members renege their vote from last week. This is the political process, he said.

Theyre elected officials, so they have to have their space to be influenced by their constituents, and I dont think thats inappropriate, Flores said.

Julia Wallace may be reached at 956-728-2543 or jwallace@lmtonline.com

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City to develop permit so other groups can paint the street too - Laredo Morning Times