COULD KKK, ANTIFA PUT BANNERS ON PUBLICLY OWNED BUILDING?
The Ombudsman for the Municipality of Anchorage received a complaint about the Black Lives Matter banners placed on the Alaska Center for the Performing Arts building in downtown Anchorage.
Darrel Hess, in a memo, says after looking into the matter, he sees the use of the building to showcase advocacy groups creates a public forum for the exterior of the downtown structure, and that is problematic.
“The ACPA building is a Municipal facility, although it is managed by a nonprofit. Placing the BLM banners on the building is problematic, as it potentially creates a public forum. If the Municipality allows community organizations to place non-Municipal banners, posters and other materials on or in Municipal buildings, it can create a public forum. This means that we would have to allow ‘Blue Lives Matter Banners’, ‘All Lives Matter Banners’, ‘White Lives Matter Banners’, or even Klu Klux Klan or neo-Nazi banners,” he wrote in a memo.
The Black Lives Matter banner was allowed to be hung, and municipal resources were used to hang it last month after the Alaska Black Caucus contacted the Berkowitz Administration about hanging the banners.
Chris Schutte, director of Economic Development for the city, talked over the matter with the director of the Alaska Performing Arts Center, and they approved the three banners, which were paid for by the Alaska Black Caucus.
But the Alaska Black Caucus did not pay a fee to have them placed. Normally, the shows that rent space in the building pay the facility a fee to hang banners for upcoming performances.
“Hanging the BLM banners for free makes this more problematic and sets a bad precedent,” Hess wrote.
The Municipality and Performing Arts Center committed to keeping the banners up through Oct. 2.
“Regardless of what Legal determines about hanging banners moving forward, removing the banners early might be more problematic than keeping them up through October 2nd,” Hess wrote.
“The Performing Arts Center banner policy implies that only show banners will be placed. Legal probably needs to work with the ACPA regarding their banner policy. Non-show related banners also most likely violate the sign code if permits are not obtained,” Hess wrote.
Members of the grassroots group “Save Anchorage” are beginning an initiative to request that their banner be put on the side of the building.
