By Town Crier Staff Report
It will cost nearly $16,500 to put on a June 4 parade celebrating gay pride, with the city accepting to pay half the cost. Council members unanimously approved a permit for the parade at their May 9 meeting, although some members expressed reservations.
Mayor Ron Packard, who voted with a council majority in February to ban consideration of Gay Pride Day proclamations, said he had no choice but to approve the permit for the parade. “Do they have a constitutional right to a proclamation?” he said. “No. Do they have a constitutional right to a parade? Yes.”
Councilmen Kurt Colehower and David Casas also indicated they felt compelled to vote yes. Colehower advised the Gay/Straight Alliance (GSA) students after the council vote, urging them to re-examine their motivations for a parade.
“Be recognized for what you do rather than who you are. There are lots of opportunities to volunteer in ways that are more positive than what you can accomplish with a parade,” said Colehower.
With so much media interest from outside Los Altos, Police Chief Bob Lacey said the cost of the parade would go up to cover six more police officers and city signage - increasing the parade price-tag from $12,000 to $16,468. Under a city ordinance, the city will shoulder half that cost - approximately $8,234.
Because the parade sponsor, the Los Altos Community Foundation, is a non-profit, the foundation is eligible for matching funds from the city.
“It’s an unplanned expense,” Casas said. He said he was hesitant about spending city dollars on a “select group of individuals who unnecessarily excite” Los Altos residents.
In approving the permit, the council also voted to conditionally waive the usual time frame - 120 days - in which the council must approve a special event permit. If a permit takes too long to be approved, it could be seen as prohibiting free speech, Packard said. In several similar permit applications, he added, other cities have been sued for such a delay’s chilling effect on free speech.
Parade organizers, including the Los Altos Alliance for Youth, estimated in March that the parade would draw about 500 people. But Lacey said it is now “impossible to predict how many people would attend.” Gay rights activists from area cities are expected, he said.
“We have to staff for street closures, parking, traffic and pedestrian safety,” said police Sgt. Tom Connelly. Main and State streets are expected to be closed 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. on parade day.
Henry Roux, co-chairman of the Los Altos Alliance for Youth, a parade sponsor, said the spectacle would be moderate, with participation from local high school Gay/Straight Alliance groups. The committee and high school students expected two or three floats, an antique car show, a speaker and band, he said.
The Los Altos Rotary Club voted not to sponsor or support the parade Thursday. In other action, the council:
• Appointed Megan Satterlee to an unexpired term on the Planning Commission.
• Approved preliminary design plans for the Masonic Temple at 146 Main St. The council has urged the organization to consider selling the space in place of a retail option, said City Manager Phil Rose.
• Approved a height request from the city planning commission for the First and Main streets hotel to raise the roof five extra feet, up to 35 feet. As a public benefit, the hotel’s planned 75 parking spaces will be open to the public during daytime business hours, the council also reaffirmed.
Residents on Verano Drive also voiced concerns about a single-story overlay decision approved by the city council in 2001 that prohibited adjacent neighbors from building two-story homes. But the zoning decision only extended to include Verano Drive residents and failed to include backyard neighbors on Solano Drive.
Packard said that, regrettably, the council cannot undo the zoning error of the past council. The council referred the case to the city attorney to investigate legal options for changing future ordinances on neighborhood zoning areas for overlays.
