Publisher Regains Right to Speak at City Meetings

Enrica Stuart, publisher of the feisty Rancho Palos Verdes newspaper, the Monitor, is free once again to speak her mind at City Council meetings.

After listening to arguments from the American Civil Liberties Union that he was trampling on Stuart’s constitutional rights, Mayor Mel Hughes Tuesday night lifted his earlier edict prohibiting Stuart from speaking as a citizen during public hearings because she is also a journalist.

“I am satisfied,” Stuart said after the council meeting.

But Hughes was not apologetic.

“I think I was absolutely right,” he said in an interview later. “ . . . When she gets out of line the next time, I’ll bring it up again.”

The 63-year-old Stuart has published her quarterly newspaper from her home for two years. The paper, written mostly by Stuart and distributed free to homes on the Palos Verdes Peninsula, routinely criticizes council members in stories that are a mix of opinion, fact and analysis. Some critics of the paper, including Hughes, contend that Stuart has used the paper at times to promote council candidates she favors.

Stuart’s showdown with the mayor occurred during a council meeting in mid-May. Stuart had filled out an application with the city clerk to speak during a public hearing. But when her turn came to talk, Hughes told her the council doesn’t “give press reports in the middle of council meetings” and forbade her to speak.

“You’re either a member of the public or a member of the press,” Hughes told her.

Stuart protested that her constitutional rights were being violated. And the ACLU backed her up. On Tuesday night, ACLU attorney Marketa Sims told the council that Stuart was being deprived of her free speech rights under the First Amendment and her rights under the state’s open meetings law, the Brown Act. The act requires city councils and other public agencies to set aside time for members of the public to address them on matters within its jurisdiction.

Sims, in a prepared statement, asked Hughes and the other council members to “restore to Ms. Stuart her full rights as a citizen.”

Council members did not wade deeply into the lofty constitutional issues, although Councilman Bob Ryan said the council should allow everyone to speak: “I would just say let the good times roll. . . .”

Nor did council members take a formal vote on the issue. Hughes told Stuart that she could speak at future council meetings but should indicate she is speaking as a citizen.

But Hughes, in the interview, made it clear he has no use for Stuart’s brand of journalism. He said Stuart fails to report stories objectively and, hence, her newspaper is unethical.

But Stuart later said she does not believe it is unethical “to express your constitutional rights.”

Sims said she was satisified with the outcome. “He said she could talk to the council, and that is what we came here for,” Sims said.