Free Enterprise, Private Property, Freedom of Assembly, Freedom of Speech, Freedom of Dialogue Nevada County Style

Sorry for the long title, and I promise to keep this article as short as possible.

Here’s a question for you.  Do you want to know how to make a politician squirm?  Just ask him or her to define free enterprise.  It works every time. I know, because I’ve done it twice over the last 10 years or so, and both times were in Sacramento.

And they truly do squirm.

The first time was when I was a member of the California Apartment Association, and we met with “the honorable Governor Jerry Brown” and several “honorable” legislators from the State Senate and Assembly at the CAA’s annual legislative conference. About 200 guests were in attendance. Because Brown had another obligation that day, a senator with a French name was the keynote speaker in his absence. He was wide open to questions and comments.

I rapidly raised my hand, was acknowledged, and asked him to please define free enterprise.  He remained calm, bewildered, and feebly said, “Well I am a restaurateur when I’m not here, and of course I am also this and that and other garble, and moved on to a couple of other questions. He did come back to me and asked if I understood his definition.  My answer was one loud word, NO!

A blonde female spokeswoman for CAA came to my table when the meeting broke up and reprimanded me for doing that.

The second time I asked the question was at Sacramento City Hall.  I was at a meeting   with other concerned multi-unit complex owners when Mayor Darrell Steinberg and his city council were explaining rent control to us, and what we were to expect. Again, there were about 200 people in the crowd. I stood up, went to the podium with a two minute speak time, and looked directly at Steinberg at the center of the horseshoe, and said, “This question is for you Mayor Steinberg. Will you please define free enterprise for me?” A bug-eyed female councilwoman to his right (my left, looking at the horseshoe), scowled at me and said, “He doesn’t have to answer your questions, we have the Brown Act, so you are done!”  

I was blown away by what they did to me.  I looked at every single one of them around that horseshoe and every one of them silently gave me a nasty look back, and I said, “You are a bunch of demagogues” and walked away from the podium. They flat-out blocked my freedom of speech that night, and I do not appreciate it.  

This is written to SierraThread.com because I know exactly how a couple of Nevada County patriots feel about this subject. Bill Robinson and Amy Young, my friends, and contributors to SierraThread.com  do an excellent job of making the point in an article called “Nevada County Supervisor Hardy Bullock Cuts Off Local Resident During Public Comment”.

Please watch the video.   

Lots more coming your way, so stay tuned California!

Editor’s Note:

According to the California Attorney General, The Ralph M. Brown Act is a “public access law” that ensures the public’s right to attend the meetings of public agencies, facilitates public participation in all phases of local government decision-making, and curbs misuse of the democratic process by secret legislation. Under the Act, all meetings of local legislative bodies are open and public, and all persons are permitted to attend the meetings. Statutory exceptions authorizing closed sessions are construed narrowly, and the Brown Act “sunshine law” is construed liberally in favor of openness in conducting public business. (98 Cal.Ops.Atty.Gen. 41 (2015).)