309 Cedar PMB #14B
Santa Cruz, CA 95060

January 24, 2005

Mayor Mike Rotkin
Santa Cruz, CA

Dear Mayor Rotkin,


During the Public Hearing on the Santa Cruz Coast Hotel project on Tuesday January 18th, my Public Comment period was interrupted and my comment not held before a quorum of the City Council.

I described this situation to you in a letter several days ago and requested the time be restored to me and that I be allowed to make public comment, a right guaranteed me under the Brown Act.

You denied me that opportunity verbally on January 19th and had me forcibly removed from chambers by a police officer, also denying me the opportunity to hear the rest of the proceedings, talk with members of the audience, circulate petitions in the Civic Auditorium, etc.

I believe your behavior on January 19th in denying me public comment and excluding me also violates the Brown Act. I ask you to correct this Brown Act violation immediately.

The most convenient time to do this is at the January 25th meeting when the item again appears on the agenda during the evening session. Please assure me that I will be able to speak without being interrupted, threatened, or removed--and that I will be able to speak to a full quorum of the City Council, if you intend to complete business on that item.

I remind you that similar violations of basic constitutional rights have brought City Council to court in a case, ironically, that your Council will be reviewing at the 1:30 litigation session.

I would hope you would not require the City to spend more time and money to deny me my opportunity to speak for three minutes on the Coast Hotel project. This is an opportunity which the law guarantees everyone else. To deny me the chance to speak is a form of selective harassment. Again denying me the right ot speak suggests a broader pattern of harassment---such as is the subject of the pending lawsuit.

Sincerely,

Robert Norse
(Y Swami Y)