Cowardice and capitulation in Chapel Hill

"In a surprise late night move, Mayor Mark Kleinschmidt on Wednesday petitioned the Chapel Hill Town Council to immediately suspend
the town’s policy governing ads on Chapel Hill Transit buses"

This is a ridiculous attempt at face-saving and a manifestation of abject cowardice. They have pulled these new policies out of their hat and are pathetically claiming them to be the same old policies they've had all along. Why didn't anyone remember these old, established policies when the anti-Israel ads ran? But our ads that oppose the ideology that inspired 9/11, the Times Square attempted car bombing, the Fort Hood massacre, the recent attempted bombing of the Federal Reserve bank in New York City, and so many other jihad attacks is prohibited by the town. This is implied support for the oppression, subjugation and slaughter mandated by an ideology that is diametrically opposed to our Constitution and our freedoms.

The good people of Chapel Hill are ill-served by these frightened little men and ought to throw the bums out. This Mayor is pathetic. Does he wear a red nose and a funny wig as well?

Our ads can't run but the anti-Israel ads will continue to run.

"CHTC Puts Bus Ads on Ice, For Now"
Chapelboro.com, Elizabeth Friend Reporting

CHAPEL HILL- In a surprise late night move, Mayor Mark Kleinschmidt on Wednesday petitioned the Chapel Hill Town Council to immediately suspend
the town’s policy governing ads on Chapel Hill Transit buses, after
town staffers revealed they had accidentally consulted a draft ordinance
very different from the policy the council officially adopted in June
of 2011.

“Earlier today I was informed that our conversations around the transit
ad policy were in error, and in fact, our conversations were around a
policy proposed to us in June 2011, but not adopted by us,” Kleinschmidt
told the council.

***Click to listen to the full petition***

The error came to light as Town Attorney Ralph Karpinos was preparing to brief the council on the policy next month.

In a memo to Town Manager Roger Stancil, Chapel Hill Transit Director Steve Spade
wrote, “We have been using the draft policy rather than the one
approved by the Council. In reviewing our communication since June 2011,
we have consistently applied the draft policy rather than the one
approved by the Council.”

The draft policy allows ads with religious and political content, while the policy actually approved by the council explicitly forbids such content.

“The policy, as we speak right now, of the Town of Chapel Hill as to
advertising on buses, currently, right this minute, bans religious
advertising- promoting or opposing- and bans political advertising
associated with any cause that’s not currently on a ballot,” said
Kleinschmidt. “We did that in June of 2011. That, for obvious reasons,
completely alters the conversation we are having as a community on
transit advertising.”

The rules governing bus ads have been scrutinized since this summer,
when a series of ads purchased by the Church of Reconciliation
advocating for an end to U.S. military aid to Israel sparked heated
debate over both the content of the ads, as well as the question of
whether public transit is an appropriate forum for free speech.

Mayor Kleinschmidt stressed that if the council took no action, town
staff would be forced to comply with the official policy, stripping ads
from all buses first thing in the morning.

“Tomorrow, when we wake up if we don’t do anything tonight, our transit
advertising policy will require the removal of the ads on the buses
right now, which I think would be injurious to the conversations we’re
having towards adopting another policy of some kind, which is scheduled
for our consideration two weeks from now.”

The council voted to immediately suspend the policy and refuse any new
advertising contracts until new policies are adopted. All current
contracts will be honored, meaning the Church of Reconciliation’s ads
will remain in place until the council and community have a chance to
discuss the matter next month. Eight council members approved the
suspension; Penny Rich cast the lone dissenting vote.

The freeze comes just as the town was set to make a decision on another
highly controversial ad that’s drawn criticism in San Francisco,
Washington D.C and New York City.

Pamela Geller, executive director of the American Freedom Defense
Initiative, submitted a pro-Israel ad to Chapel Hill Transit that reads,
“In any war between the civilized man and the savage, support the
civilized man. Support Israel. Defeat Jihad.”

Geller has threatened to sue the town if her ad is rejected. Similarly,
the ACLU has threatened legal action if it appears the town is blocking
ads due to objectionable content.

Kleinschmidt said the ad freeze was not related to Gellar's ad, and was
instead meant to preserve the status quo until the council reviews the
bus advertising policy on November 5.

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RCCA

11 years ago

Like you said, endemic anti Semitism goes unchallenged.

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pdxnag

11 years ago

What if they were addressing a land use proposal by “I Gas Jews For Profit”? (a.k.a. Hilter Failed To Finish What Mo Started, PBUH)
What sideshow could they concoct so as to approve it without saying they approve it?
Do not forget that the First Amendment is special. This contract clause argument itself would not withstand a challenge. Suppose someone had a ten year advertising agreement — long enough for a healthy legal challenge as they ran. The principal is the same for an ad with 3 days remaining. The contract clause argument would fail when matched against the First Amendment, and they know it.

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Hannah Westcoast

11 years ago

I posted this on their website. I encourage all to get to the website and post. Bring up the great boycott of any Nazi goods of the 1930s. Bring up the Church of the Reconciliation’s background. It means doing the research and showing that Chapel Hill has issues with reality. Here’s my post – So let me get this right. Buses can run pro-Jihad, pro-Sharia, pro-anti-civil rights ads but nothing to counter this. Buses can run ads promoting anti-American activities via CAIR but nothing that makes one think who does the individual want to support? Shame the mayor and Council do not know history. In the 1930s the US had a boycott against Nazi goods due to the treatment of “inferiors” (Jews, Gypsies, Handicapped). Shame that the politicians of Chapel Hill cannot stand up to the plate and support today’s anti-terrorists but will appease those who wish to murder us all. Have you forgotten Sept. 11th? Have you forgotten July 7th? How many more attacks on freedom loving people will it take before “YOU” get the point? By the way – please look into the “Church of Reconciliation” and find out who they support. It’s not the US but it is the enemies of the US (and they are a Christian group?).

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Laura

11 years ago

“Kleinschmidt said the ad freeze was not related to Gellar’s ad, and was instead meant to preserve the status quo until the council reviews the bus advertising policy on November 5”.
…………………………………………………..
Right. What a lying, pusilanimous pipsqueak.

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