What’s Happening:

This Tuesday the Santa Ana City Council will be voting on an ordinance to restrict people’s right to protest in residential areas. The ordinance comes on the heels of a series of protests in front of Congressman Lou Correa’s house due to his continued silence as more and more elected officials and people across the country call for a Ceasefire in Gaza.

It’s that simple.

Why is this important:

The right to protest our elected officials' decisions, positions, and silence is sacred. In Santa Ana, these types of protest movements are part of the fabric of the city’s culture and have been the catalyst for major systemic policy changes for decades.

Residents protesting have made the city what it is today: a city that values and protects its immigrant residents, its tenants, its youth, and its workers.

However, since Mayor Valerie Amezcua’s tenure at the city council, there has been a clear pattern by members of the council to curtail views they don’t like including: limiting public comments, pushing agenda items on which young people have shown up to speak on to later into the night, and dismissing the results of the city’s own budget surveys only because resident’s responses didn’t align with their world view.

We’ve also seen members of the council limiting which residents can and cannot interact with them on social media and creating a protective bubble against opposing views around themselves.

This proposed ordinance follows this pattern and should be rejected.

How will this petition be delivered:

The petition will be delivered in person and via email to the City Council and City Clerk.