Goo Tossers Could Become Stuck in Jail Under Pasadena Law

It’s been getting out of hand, Pasadena city officials say.

Spectators at the Rose Parade and the Doo Dah Parade have been raising blizzards of sticky marshmallows, mucking up the streets with strings of aerosol spray foam and hurling tortillas Frisbee-style.

Time to pass a law, City Council members agreed.

The Council gave preliminary approval Tuesday to what one member referred to as “the Silly String ordinance,” making such behavior a misdemeanor punishable by up to six months in jail and a $1,000 fine.

Besides the danger that people could be injured or horses spooked, it has cost Pasadena more and more to clean the sticky mess off the streets and cars.

The law makes it unlawful to “drop, roll, throw, toss, squirt or propel any gaseous, liquid, semi-solid or solid substance or object” toward a participant in a parade.

The language is “turgid,” conceded Deputy City Atty. Lawrence Newberry. “But we’re dealing very closely with 1st Amendment prerogatives.”

Newberry said he tried to draw the law narrowly enough to prohibit only actions that would threaten injury to a parade participant.

The law, which comes back to the council for final approval next week, is scheduled to take effect next month.