Orange County Mayor Teresa Jacobs blindsided the Occupy Orlando folks who have been protesting outside the Orange County Administration Center (OCAC), when she personally invited protestors to address the commission on Tuesday morning.
While each Occupy participant will be allowed three minutes to address the commission, Jacobs will introduce a resolution that will limit the group’s hours of protest, restrict them to a particular area at the OCAC, ban the erection of tents or similar structures and bar anyone from sleeping on the property.
But when Jacobs issued her invitation to the Occupy Orlando group Monday evening, she forgot to disclose her planned resolution, an ex post facto law, that specifically mentions, “Occupy.”
Occupy participants said they feel “ambushed” after learning of the resolution, which is expected to be approved by the County Commission.
“The resolution continues a trend of heavy handed attacks on civic engagement,” said Shayan Elahi, one of the Occupy Orlando legal team members. “These ex post facto laws and resolutions have a chilling effect on free speech and are look down upon by courts, especially the Supreme Court.”
Elahi added these kinds of resolutions suggest that “our local government is more interested in banning criticism than addressing the concerns of citizens.”
Occupy Orlando participants have been protesting outside the Orange County Administration Center for eight days, after moving from City Hall, a couple blocks away.
The term is “blind sided” NOT “blind sighted”