Residents from across the Kenai Peninsula attended the Wednesday night Soldotna City Council meeting to hear an official report regarding the use of Soldotna Creek Park. City Attorney Brooks Chandler addressed the standing room only crowd because of the amount of feedback the city’s administration and council received addressing a Soldotna Pride in the Park event from June. Some members of the public viewed the event as lewd, immoral, and illegal, while supporters of said event say that it falls in line with the rights granted under the First Amendment.
In a memorandum that has, since, been posted online, Chandler cited a 1975 ordinance that states you have to get a permit to use a shelter in the park. It has one basis for denial of permit – if the proposed use of the park would present an unreasonable interference with or detraction from the public enjoyment of the park.
He said:
“I considered that, and I concluded that that standard did not allow the city to deny a permit based on the planned content of what would be happening with a dance performance. People might ask why is that? That doesn’t really make sense to me. The short answer to that question is that we live in America, not Russia. The history goes back to the adoption of the Bill of Rights, which included the First Amendment, which guarantees the right of free speech to people.”
Nearly three hours of public testimony followed Chandler’s report. One of Soldotna Pride in the Park’s organizers, Audre Hickey testified:
“If you look at the whole event of Pride, twerking was 0.02% of our three-and-a-half-hour event. No one that night was there without their consent. Tonight, people gave tips to the music performers at the park. Performers receive tips. Adults far outweighed the children that were at Pride. The children that were there were there with the consent of their parents. There is no direct line of sight from the playground to the stage.”
Soldotna City Council member Jordan Chilson:
“If someone wants to choose to express themselves a little bit more than that celebration, as long as they’re following the law, I’ll stand by it and protect their rights to do so. In conclusion, although I would support efforts to clarify our rules and increase transparency, I would not support any legislation that unfairly targets this community or otherwise would seek to diminish their constitutional rights to safely express themselves in adherence to established laws and policies.”
Click here to watch last night’s council meeting. Click here to review the city attorney’s report (beginning on page 10 of the document).