City leaders continue to reinforce their policy for Corpus Christi City Council’s public comment. However, some community members believe they are only executing their right to freedom of speech.
Specifically at Tuesday’s city council meeting, things took an interesting turn.
“I started coming in and then I started seeing a bunch of clowns and I was like ‘I’m in the right place,” Marilena Garza, founder of the Free Store, said while dressed in a clown suit.
For months, city leaders emphasized the city’s rules of decorum for public comment. City attorney Miles Risley read the terms during the meeting.
“The mayor and council members should be referred to by title and or title surname,” Risley said. “All remarks must be addressed to the mayor and the city council and not to the council members as individuals.”
Garza spoke to council by addressing them as “clowns in a circus,” while discussing her concerns with city leader’s decision-making. But Risley quickly reminded her of the policy.