A Message from Mayor Susan Payne on the City's Non-partisan Policy

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A message from the Mayor of Alamogordo; Mayor Susan Payne:

"In light of recent attention brought to the City’s long-standing non-partisan event policy, I want to take a moment to clarify a few points and share how we’re moving forward.

This policy has been in place for many years and has spanned several city managers, mayors and commissioners. It is important to mention that city sponsored events are not a requirement but we are excited to provide them as an opportunity for our vendors and for the enjoyment of our community. That said, our events often see several thousand citizens yet are coordinated by just a few staff members and manned with the assistance of community volunteers.

While enforcement has not always been consistent, due to a number of factors including those just mentioned, it has remained a guiding principle for how we manage our public events.

Over the past few weeks, I’ve had the opportunity to speak with several residents who took the time to engage in respectful and constructive conversations. As expected, opinions vary: some citizens feel there should be no political booths at all, including voter registration booths; others are indifferent; and some believe everyone should be allowed to participate. As mayor, I represent all of our citizens, and when concerns arise, I always want to work to identify whether a middle ground can be found.

To that end, I’ve asked the city manager and city attorney to review the current policy. As with all our policies, our leadership team regularly revisits what is currently being followed to ensure they reflect evolving best practices, and community expectations, while remaining compliant with shifting state and federal laws. As part of this review, staff are also reaching out to other municipalities to gather insight and guidance.

Our goal for city-hosted events has always been to create a welcoming, family-friendly environment focused on fun and community. I believe we can reach a middle ground soon that reflects our varied concerns.

This process is a perfect example of how things get done, even at the local level. Reasonable people can disagree, and when they do so respectfully, real progress can be made.

On the other hand, aggressive emails, public attacks, or attempts to pressure or intimidate staff are not a way forward. In fact, those tactics often do more harm than good and may ultimately cause the opposite effect. Unfortunately, as a result of one such recent attack, some events may be canceled, scaled back, or changed to limit outside vendor participation until we can establish a written policy that reflects the goals mentioned. This is not because of disagreement, but because of the strain placed on our small, dedicated staff whose only focus should be executing successful events.

I remain confident in both our dedicated staff and the citizens we serve to find a solution. While I understand some of the frustration behind recent verbal attacks on the city, I believe we are better than that.

The city will continue to be responsible stewards of taxpayer dollars, and we will always strive to host events that reflect the values and needs of all our residents, not just the loudest voices in the room. Thank you to those who sought to be engaged in respectful dialogue. Let’s keep working together for the good of our entire community."

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It would seem to me that the first guiding principle would be the 1st amendment.
As long as every political party has an equal chance to participate, the city is fulfilling it's non partisan directive.
To ban political booths, and thereby ban political speech at public events is inherently against the first amendment.
There are some common sense rules that can be applied, such as prohibiting canvasing of the crowd, limiting interaction to those who actually choose to come to the booth.  Also, prohibiting the use of bull horns or P.A. systems, or other tactics that would tend to disrupt the event.

The first amendment was first and foremost intended to protect political speech, a political booth is like any other vendor, they are trying to sell a product.  So in my opinion, if you ban political booths, you must ban all vendors.  Which would end up meaning that the city must bear the full cost of events by itself without recouping any fees from vendors OR sponsors.

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I should also state that my personal preference would be to have no political booths at all, not even voter registration.  There are times when it's nice to have a break from politics and just have fun.
But the constitution doesn't allow for that.  According to the constitution, the first and second amendments are rights, not privileges, and may not be suspended even during an emergency, insurrection, or war.
The only compromise I can see is to limit interaction to the vicinity of the booths, and let those who wish to discuss politics come to the booths.

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I still do not believe that a voter registration booth is a political statement, other than saying it is important to be registered and vote! Providing an easy way for unregistered voters to sign up and vote is a part of the American Way.
I certainly will abide by any city decisions, but I know the restrictions put on my duties as a volunteer registrar and follow them implicitly! I have registered more Republicans and Decline to State people than I have Democrats in the 6 years that I have been a registrar. 

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