Placentia : Rule Backed by Acton Used in His Ejection

Former Mayor Richard Acton, who was escorted out of a City Council meeting this week after protesting a city requirement mandating that he write his name and address before addressing the council, was the councilman who placed the rule in the books, Placentia officials said Thursday.

“I think it’s ironic. I’m not sure what he’s doing. The motion he’s objecting he moved to put into effect,” Mayor George Ziegler said.

Acton was escorted out of a meeting Tuesday by the police chief after refusing to comply with the city requirement, which, City Manager Roger Kemp said, Acton helped place in effect on May 8, 1980, when he moved to have it approved. Council members adopted it unanimously, Kemp said.

The rule, part of the council’s procedural manual on decorum and order, was part of a resolution that rescinded a city ordinance requiring people who addressed the council or other boards to sign an oath. The oath, which declared that speakers tell the truth under penalty of prosecution, was challenged by at least one council member, residents and the Orange County chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union.

Acton said Thursday that eliminating the oath was one of his first actions on the council. He said city staff members did not advise the council that the resolution that replaced the oath would require another form of written commitment, something Acton said he later learned. The resolution requires residents to complete a form with their name, address, representation, if any, and agenda item before addressing the council, a city board or a commission.

“They are going to try to say that Richard Acton created this form. That’s not correct. Richard Acton made it easier for people to address the council,” the former mayor said.

Acton, who served as mayor in 1981 and 1982, said the forms are “imposing and intimidating” to “the little resident who has never been to a meeting.”

“Giving out your address is a violation of the right to privacy,” Acton said.