Unfair Park from p4 “Dallas has been Dem for some time,” he continued. “I think Republicans see an op- portunity, what with Jenkins’ support of strict COVID restrictions, to possibly steal this race. The way you do that is to go nega- tive. And when you are attacked, going on the attack is a typical response … an arms race of negativity fueled by a fair amount of spending.” According to her campaign website, Da- vis decided to run because of resentment of Jenkins’ support of mask mandates and other COVID response strategies during the height of the pandemic. Davis, who operates an upscale barbershop chain with her hus- band, has accused Jenkins of attacking free- dom and damaging small businesses. She also claimed he lied about his his family’s educational background and alleged he wore blackface 40 years ago during a prank break-in while in college. Jenkins’ campaign has repeatedly denied that the judge wore blackface but accepted responsibility for the break-in, saying in an email, “Judge Jenkins apologized then, when he was 19, and continues to be sorry for the poor judgment he exhibited at the time.” At the same time, Davis, who is white, has compared her children’s refusal to follow school mask mandates to protests during the civil rights movement. “They sat in class like Rosa Parks,” Davis said in an interview with far-right broadcaster John Fredricks on Real America’s Voice. Parks was arrested and fined in Alabama in 1955 for refusing to give up her seat on a bus to a white man. The Observer asked Da- vis if she saw any problem with comparing her children’s mask stance to Rosa Parks’ defiance while also accusing Jenkins of wearing blackface. “I don’t know that they’re necessarily comparable,” she said on the phone, talking of her comments about Jenkins and her kids. In an email from Jenkins’ campaign, rep- resentatives said they were “disappointed to see such divisive vitriol, based on lies and misinformation … This race should be about abilities and ideas.” That’s a high-minded notion, especially in 2022, and perhaps it’s a sign that Jenkins is feeling confident about his race. Still, even Jillson, who doesn’t think an upset in No- vember is likely, notes that a little fear can be a healthy thing for politicians hoping to win. “Just remember what your high school track coach told you,” he said. Even when when you’re leading the pack you should “lean into the tape” at the end. ▼ CITY COUNCIL MIC DROP T 6 6 CITY COUNCIL’S LOOKING AT WAYS TO CUT DOWN ON INTERRUPTIONS DURING PUBLIC INPUT. BY JACOB VAUGHN he people who line up to speak to the Dallas City Council during its open microphone sessions sometimes share their concerns about what’s going on in their part of town. Those comments may lead to actual changes in the city. Then there are the other speakers — the anti-fluoride crowd, the antisemites and those ready to unleash racist tirades or whatever else comes to mind during their few minutes in front of City Council. That’s why Dallas is considering changes to how it handles public speakers. At the council’s meeting this week, Mayor Eric Johnson suggested getting rid of the open mic sessions, an option presented by city staff. Public speakers at City Council meetings can generally be split into two groups – open microphone speakers and speakers on agenda items, including public hearings. The distinction between the two catego- ries is crucial in how the city regulates dis- ruptive people. Texas law requires cities to give speakers an opportunity to be heard on an agenda item. Cal Estee, a Dallas senior as- sistant attorney, said courts have allowed cities to enforce topic limitations during dis- cussions on agenda items. Topic limitations don’t violate the First Amendment because they are “reasonable regulations that serve the government’s interest in conducting an efficient and orderly meeting,” he said. Neither Texas law nor the First Amend- ment requires an open microphone session during a public meeting, but if the city opens its forum up for anything-goes discussion, it can’t subsequently restrict speech based on the subject matter, Estee said. Cities can take steps to control disruptive speakers. They can remove them for causing a disruption, but that’s not easily defined. If there are specific agenda items people are speaking about, a person could be removed for discussing an irrelevant topic, for exam- ple. But, during open microphone sessions, speakers can cause a disruption only by vio- lating the rule of decorum, e.g., making per- sonal, impertinent, profane or slanderous remarks, or becoming boisterous or exceed- ing the time allotted for them to speak. In these cases, the person in charge of the meeting has to warn the speaker before they’re removed. If they carry on with the disruption, Texas law allows the city to have them removed. Whether someone is thrown out of a meeting is at the mayor’s discretion, and Johnson said last week that he doesn’t like having to make those calls. Other cities are adopting rules to tackle disruptive speakers. These rules are more narrow and are meant ers, we’re in the world of having to make those decisions.” Restricting open microphone speakers completely would leave the agenda items for people to speak on, which already requires that comments are kept on topic, he argued. Not everyone was on board with the idea. City Council member Cara Mendelsohn, for one, said she felt the process should stay the same because it’s “an important way for the public to be able to participate in local gov- ernment.” “We do see quite a bit of nonsense and Screen grab/City of Dallas Mayor Johnson suggested ending open mic public speaking opportunities. to create a more objective standard to ad- dress disruptions and maintain order during city meetings. Dallas may take similar steps. The way it is now, five speakers are al- lowed to share comments with the City Council before it takes up its agenda. The re- mainder speak after every agenda item has been discussed. The city has a few options. It can enforce the current rules more harshly. It could set aside specific time during the meeting for open microphone speakers on council days and schedule it as a recess. Dallas could also hold meetings on different days solely for open microphone speakers. These open mi- crophone sessions could also be reserved for City Council briefing meetings. The city could also get rid of the open microphone session, or adopt something called a disrup- tive speaker standard. This standard could make the decision of whether someone is being disruptive more objective. A committee was formed to look into these options and how people felt about them. Few seemed to support eliminating the open microphone speaker sessions. In- stead, most were in favor of holding these sessions on City Council briefing days. Johnson, who asked that the issue be ex- amined, said he liked the idea of doing away with the open microphone sessions, even though it might look like the City Council was avoiding hearing from the public. He said that’s not the point. He wants to hear from residents. The point, he said, is making the meetings more efficient and taking away a process that requires him to exercise such discretion. “That’s what I was trying to actually fig- ure out, how we could get out of it because it requires me to make judgment calls about what’s discourteous to me, you know, what’s impertinent to me,” Johnson said. He said some of these calls can make the other City Council members feel like he’s playing favorites. “It’s a mess,” Johnson said. “I don’t really want to be making decisions about what I think is rude behavior, essen- tially. … If we have open microphone speak- some very crazy things ... including this morning, songs, puppet shows from the anti-fluoride people, frequent tirades that are antisemitic,” Mendelsohn said. “But we’ve also learned some things that have helped us resolve some problems. We’ve helped residents who’ve come here looking for help – items that were not on the agenda. So, I view the public comment period as es- sential to accessible government, wouldn’t want to decrease the frequency or put limits on it.” The City Council could vote on new rules for public speakers by the end of the year. ▼ CRIME LEGAL PROBLEMS PILE UP ANOTHER LAWSUIT HAS BEEN FILED AGAINST THE PLANO WOMAN WHO LAUNCHED RACIST TIRADE AGAINST FOUR INDIAN AMERICANS. BY JACOB VAUGHN and hurling racist insults at a group of In- dian American women as they were winding down a night out in late August. Indrani Banerjee and three friends met at A the restaurant Sixty Vines for dinner on Aug. 24. As the four walked back to their cars af- ter dinner, Upton approached them and “be- gan verbally threatening and slandering them and physically assaulting them,” ac- cording to her lawsuit, filed last week. This was Banerjee and her friends’ first interac- tion with Upton. “You’d like to think we’ve got to a point in our society and our culture where this sort of thing just doesn’t happen anymore,” James Walker, Banerjee’s attorney, told the Observer. “I think we’ve made substantial progress in that regard as a society. I think there’s far less of this sort of overt racism to- day as there was 20, 30, 40 years ago. But, there’s that time where someone’s truly ex- posed, and they really show you a glimpse of what’s written on their heart, and it’s an ugly sight.” The Observer contacted several email ad- dresses and phone numbers listed for Upton and her husband but did not receive any re- sponse. Banerjee’s suit says Upton “launched into a series of scurrilous racial slurs,” saying things like “I hate you fucking Indians” and “if things are so great in your country, then stay there.” Banerjee started to record Upton on her phone and told her friend to call the police. That’s when Upton physically attacked Ba- nerjee and her friends, according to the law- suit. At one point Upton reached into >> p8 second woman has filed a lawsuit against Esmeralda Upton, a Plano resident caught on video attacking OCTOBER 27–NOVEMBER 2, 2022 MONTH XX–MONTH XX, 2014 DALLAS OBSERVER | CLASSIFIED | MUSIC | DISH | MOVIES | CULTURE | NIGHT+DAY | FEATURE | SCHUTZE | UNFAIR PARK | CONTENTS | DALLAS OBSERVER CLASSIFIED | MUSIC | DISH | CULTURE | UNFAIR PARK | CONTENTS dallasobserver.comdallasobserver.com
