Tea Party says city violated its free speech rights

Please help us by calling or emailing the City Of Port St.Lucie: Director of Parks Chuck Proulx 878-2277 City Manager Donald Cooper 871-5163 City Attorney Roger G. Orr 871-5294 City Counsel All of them 871-5159 Mayor Christensen Mayor@cityofpsl.com Vice Mayor Jack Kelly District4@cityofpsl.com Michelle Berger District2@cityofpsl.com Chris Cooper District3@cityofpsl.com Linda Bartz District1@cityofpsl.com Traditionally, political and religious organizations have not had booths at FreedomFest, Edward Cunningham, the city's director of communications, said in an e-mailed statement. This year, he said, "though some people may have preferred to exclude the groups from the event, city management was unwilling to limit free speech rights, or to spend taxpayer money on needless legal costs." Instead of excluding those groups, he said, the city posted a sign stating: "The city of Port St. Lucie does not endorse, support or condone the views or products of the organizations or individuals in this section. However, we are required to make this space available to avoid the cost of litigation." Mr. Iken said only his organization and Sonlight Community Church were isolated from other booths in the section. "You couldn't see our booth because the sign was blocking our booth," he said. Read More....