The Burlington City Council is likely this evening to reopen discussion of a Church Street Marketplace no-trespass ordinance it unanimously approved four months ago.
Stricken with second thoughts about the wisdom of their votes in February, the council's four Progressive members recently asked attorney John Franco, a fellow Prog, to assess whether the ordinance gibes with the provisions of the U.S. Constitution. It doesn't, Franco concludes in a five-page memo dated June 4.
That finding conflicts with an analysis of the ordinance written a year ago by Assistant City Attorney Gregg Meyer. It argues that giving city officials the authority to ban certain individuals from the Marketplace is consistent with the Constitution. But the basis for Meyer's conclusion has not been revealed to the public. City Attorney Eileen Blackwood says the document's contents come under the heading of "attorney-client privilege" and must thus be treated as confidential.
The Progs got permission from Blackwood's office to share Meyer's analysis with another attorney — Franco.
The four Progressive councilors are offering a resolution at this evening's meeting calling for Meyer's memo to be made public. "We need it to be out there so there can be an open debate," City Councilor Rachel Siegel said in an interview on Sunday.
In response, Blackwood said it would be "inappropriate" for her to comment on the Progs' resolution. Asked how the document's secrecy squares with Mayor Miro Weinberger's stated commitment to transparency in city affairs, Blackwood responded, "If we want to be transparent on something like this, someone has to give me direction" on when the claim of privilege should not be asserted.