Persistent critic of Sacramento City Council, Mayor Steinberg complains about public comment visibility
In the classic movie Sunset Blvd., when someone tells the main character Norma Desmond that she used to be a big star in silent film, she famously responds, “I am big. It’s the pictures that got small.”
While none of the speakers at the recent Sacramento City Council meeting might have been “big” stars, their images being projected during meetings have definitively shrunk. Since at least November 14, speakers’ on-screen images have been substantially reduced, overlapping a static image citing a government code on public comments.
That was a portion of a speaker’s comment on non-agenda items during last night’s Sacramento City Council meeting. That speaker, Mr. Ryan Messano, who has been described as anti-Semitic by several critics, complained that the speaker’s images were barely visible and the city was trying to suppress free speech.
As you’ll see in another story/video to be posted tomorrow, Messano has generated controversy at government meetings throughout Northern California. While his speech is widely considered unsavory and hateful, he does not appear to have made any threat of violence, which could be actionable.
When the city of Sacramento shrank the images of speakers, did it do so to negate Messano, and if so, what does it say about their approach to handling comments that, while offensive, are guaranteed by the First Amendment?
