12 December 2008
Mesquite Makes Food Hard to Eat
Posted by admin under: community service .
In Mesquite, Nevada, there was one of the thousands of food drives that Boy Scouts have been doing this holiday season. However, the city council passed an ordinance that made it unlawful to solicit, in any way, people at their homes. The Boy Scouts checked to make sure this didn’t apply to charitable giving of food, but the council said that it did and the Boy Scouts were not allowed to collect food this way. Residents have tried to sway the council, but it came to naught. Finally, the residents decided they were going to peaceably protest the council in a creative way, but that, too, met with interference.
The “Silent Protest” expected at Tuesday’s city council meeting was exactly that – silent.
Dozens of local residents who showed up with bags of food in protest of the council’s anti-soliciting ordinance were stopped at the foot of the City Hall stairs by plainclothes policemen and city employees, their bagged goods confiscated.
The silent protest was a response from citizens to the council’s anti-soliciting ordinance which wound up banning the Boy Scouts from conducting their annual door-to-door food drive for the Salvation Army food bank.
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Over the weekend, word of the food drive spread as people became excited about the chance to “put their money where their mouth is” by actually doing something positive in donating food while also expressing their dissatisfaction with the council’s action.
But on Tuesday evening, those citizens were stopped at the foot of the stairs and forced to leave their goods on a table.
The order came down from City Manager Tim Hacker and the city council, citing the arrival of canned goods in the council chambers as a “safety issue.”
According to one officer, the council was concerned that members of the audience might begin throwing cans at the council during the meeting.
While some of the citizens turned around and went home, others left their goods on the table and proceeded upstairs to pack the council chambers.
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Others also came to the podium to express their displeasure with the council, and their move to block people from having their silent say.
However, not all of the comments were negative toward the council, as Boy Scout representative Theron Jensen expressed his dismay at some of the vitriol which has accompanied this issue.
“I’m disappointed in some of the contentious, mean spirited comments,” Jensen told the council, referring to negative opinions published both in the newspapers and online.
“It’s inappropriate to the spirit of this season of goodwill.”
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One of the few positives from this debacle was the fact that all of the food confiscated by the city will reach its intended destination, as everyone was assured that the items will be forwarded to the Salvation Army food bank.
It’s a mystery why the city council is being so obstinate when their actions are hurting people who need help. At least the Boy Scouts of America is being law-abiding and trying to do the best job they can in spite of the obstacle.
Update: Bob Davidow wrote in to his Desert Valley Times and included this quote.
Workman’s video tries to defame the mayor and council, and his intention seem to be promotion of his own agenda. Unfortunately, his version of the issue was picked up by a Boy Scout national website, giving our entire Mesquite population a black eye.
When I search google for this news event I find this very blog entry as the top return. So, do you think boyandgirlscouts.com could have been that mentioned website? Could be which makes me hasten to note that I did include the comments from the Theron Jensen so I did not present a purely one-sided notion of how this is presented. If you want to read a more pro-city council version of the events, click on that link to Mr. Davidow’s letter. To be fair.
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2 Comments so far...
Dan - Scouting News Says:
12 December 2008 at 5:20 pm.
Did you see the follow up editorial?
“The people of Mesquite are just a collection of rabble-rousing thugs, violent criminals prone to throwing deadly objects at human beings during meetings. You are so low that you don’t deserve any First Amendment rights to free speech. You can’t be trusted to keep your temper in check, so police and city employees should have the right to stop you at a check point and take away your bags of food. That is apparently what City Manager Tim Hacker, Mayor Susan Holecheck, and the entire Mesquite city council think of you..”
As someone who enjoys the banter between small town newspapers and small town politics this stuff is hysterical! Unfortunately the Scouts and a much needed food drive are stuck in the middle. Its amazing that when need is so high, and Scouting For Food Campaigns across the country are breaking records, adults can’t come up with a rational solution…
admin Says:
12 December 2008 at 5:40 pm.
Wow. No, I hadn’t followed it that far. I’ve just been watching the story unfold with regard to picking up food at people’s doorsteps. The silent protest thing seemed like a very creative way to make a protest while also doing something positive. I was surprised at the city council’s reaction. Apparently, some people are a more than surprised.
By the way, thanks for the comment. Wordpress is not posting new commenters for some reason. Your comment allowed me to see that those previously approved can at least get a word in.
