Club Wins Out in Effort to Register Voters

At first, city officials told the newly formed Santa Clara Valley Democratic Club to obtain liability insurance before it could register voters in downtown Fillmore.

The insurance was required to protect the city against lawsuits in the event someone tripped over the club’s registration table on city-owned property, officials said.

“Believe it or not, that does happen and the city gets sued,” said Kevin McSweeney, assistant city planner.

But Ramon Rodriguez, president of the 12-member Democratic club, suggested that the city may have had other motives for its tough permit requirements.

“Maybe they don’t want Democrats to be organized here in this town,” he said.

Outraged that it would have to spend upward of $700 to obtain liability insurance, Rodriguez’s club secured the help of an attorney and threatened to sue the city for infringing on its First Amendment rights.

“That’s intolerable,” Rodriguez said. “We’re not going to let that happen, even if we have to take the city to court.”

Club attorney Edward Lacey fired off a letter to Fillmore City Hall, questioning why the city did not impose the same stringent permit requirements on people who use city parks for recreational activities.

“Would a family going into the park in order to have a picnic and toss a Frisbee around . . . be required to have proof of liability insurance?” Lacey asked in his letter. “Would that family be prohibited from setting up a card table to keep its fried chicken and potato salad from being eaten by ants?”

Flustered, McSweeney said Rodriguez had blown the whole thing out of proportion.

“He’s making a mountain out of a molehill,” McSweeney said. “We were more than willing to work with him, but he flipped out and got an attorney.”

By late Thursday afternoon, and after several inquiries from The Times, Fillmore officials decided to reconsider, saying the Democratic club did not pose enough of a risk to warrant liability insurance.

“The temporary use permit for Mr. Rodriguez is being issued for voter registration,” City Manager Roy Payne said. “There is no requirement for liability insurance. I hope that clears it up.”

Rodriguez said he was pleased with the city’s action. “I assume they were starting to feel the heat,” he said.

Still, Lacey questioned whether any city has the authority to even require a permit to register people to vote or to pass out campaign literature. The group has plans to register voters this weekend in Santa Paula, for example, and that city required no such permits.

“There is still a principle involved in all of this,” Lacey said. “I hate the thought of Tom Paine having to go to the King of England before handing out pamphlets to the colonists.”