Legal action taken against the Downtown Statesboro Development Authority (DSDA) over First Amendment violations has been resolved with the entity paying out a cash settlement and issuing a public apology.
It began during a contentious primary election cycle back in February 2024 when Bulloch Action Coalition (BAC), a 501(c)4 organization, was told by DSDA attorney and Board Member Andrew Lavoie in a letter that BAC could no longer participate in the DSDA F1RST Friday events. The justification was that the DSDA would no longer be selling vendor spaces to ‘persons, entities, or organizations that intend to or may use those spaces to engage in political or public-policy related speech or advocacy.’
“DSDA has asked me to inform you of its decision to no longer sell vendor spaces at this year’s First Friday events to any persons, entities, or organizations that intend to or may use those spaces to engage in political or public-policy-related speech or advocacy (as opposed to commercial speech of marketing or selling one’s goods or services).”
LaVoie went on to cite case law which allows speech to be limited in a public forum if a certain ‘type’ of speech is limited on a blanket level. He cited Good News Club v. Milford Cent. School (2001), which said that “[t]he restriction must not discriminate against speech on the basis of viewpoint, . . . and the restriction must be reasonable in light of the purpose served by the forum[.]”
The DSDA subsequently refunded the vendor fee to BAC, saying the decision was made “without regard to any potential vendor’s specific political or public-policy viewpoint or message and will apply this limitation on prospective speakers evenhandedly.”
Inconsistent Application of New Rule
But in both March and April, months that followed the February banishment of BAC, political candidates and other 501(c)3 and c(4)s continued to participate in F1RST Friday events, according to records obtained by TheGeorgiaVirtue.
In March, DSDA, which a taxpayer funded government entity, allowed the following vendors, which did not meet the standard of “commercial speech of marketing or selling one’s goods or services,” as referenced in the letter to BAC on February 29, 2024:
- Habitat for Humanity of Bulloch County (a 501(c)3 organization)
- David Bennett for Bulloch County Commission Chairman
- Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Statesboro (not a commercial entity)
- Classical Conversations Homeschool
- City of Statesboro – Human Resources Department – (not a commercial entity)
- The Teal House (while the purpose lists ‘promoting the Teal House,’ it also lists ‘SA awareness’)
DSDA Initially Denies Wrongdoing, Prompting Legal Action
Initially, Lawton Sack and Cassandra Mikell, co-founders of BAC, sought to resolve the issue by sitting down with DSDA Executive Director Allen Muldrew. The meeting was not successful and as the policy was applied inconsistently, the two obtained legal counsel.
The DSDA denied wrongdoing and in a letter from legal counsel said the DSDA “disagrees with m any of the factual assertions and legal conclusions in it, and especially disagrees with the assertion that the DSDA violated your clients’ First Amendment rights in any way at all.”
Simultaneously in the community, the position of DSDA supporters and board members was that BAC volunteers had acted inappropriately at the F1RST Friday events, had been given warnings, and eventually asked to leave. Attorneys for the DSDA offered to settle by:
- Paying $25,000 to BAC in exchange of “Full release of any and all claims that BAC,” Sack, and Mikell have asserted
- Assertion that DSDA do not admit wrongdoing in any way
- Refusal to issue a press release admitting that it “engaged in any discrimination or otherwise violated your clients’ constitutional rights because the DSDA maintains it did not”
That narrative, however, changed when BAC provided an audio recording to the attorneys for the DSDA which contained the entirety of the conversation between Muldrew, Sack, and Mikell after they were initially told they could no longer participate.
Audio Recording
After DSDA’s initial response, Brian Tanner of Griffin, Durham, Tanner & Clarkson in Savannah reasserted the claims of First Amendment Violations and included the audio recording between the three from February 2024.
In the recording, which is 71:23 and has been uploaded in the raw format in which it was provided to TheGeorgiaVirtue, Muldrew, Sack, and Mikell can be heard discussing what led to their ultimate removal from the event.
8:35 – Sack asks Muldrew what happened between Friday and yesterday (which was when they were verbally told they could no longer participate in FF events)
8:45 – Muldrew said he didn’t know if anything happened. “I didn’t know what y’all were putting up out there so, but we try to do is, this event has a certain personality, a certain outcome, I mean there’s even a reason why we do these events and one of those is to bring the community together…so do we allow political things as you know, but we keep a tight leash on them…”
“I want everybody that comes downtown to feel comfortable coming down town…so I’m not looking for a statement, even if I’m sympathetic to it, a statement that’s going to disrupt the objective that a F1RST Friday is designed to do. That product is not inviting to a lot of people – good or bad. It doesn’t fit with what we’re trying to do. In fact, whether I agree or disagree with all those people on that list, they should be able to come downtown and have a good time just like everybody else.”
NOTE: The product Muldrew is referring to are the signs posted by BAC which said ‘Higher Taxes Brought to You By___’ with the names of the Bulloch County Commissioners.
“If you don’t like the way we’re doing it, that’s fine but this is our event…I think you can see that is something that might not fit into our F1RST Friday. I don’t think it’s hard, it’s not a stretch to see that.”
11:04 – Mikell says it isn’t different from a candidate putting a sign that they’re running against another candidate. “If I made my political sign like that, would you have a problem with that?”
11:15 – Muldrew: “Umm..well we’ve never really crossed that, like, I thought Lawton did a pretty good job in his [city council campaign] and we’ve had what’s her name over here run it, and I just said it, a political thing is on a short leash. This is not your opportunity to come out here and beat up on somebody. You can promote yourself, say ‘I’m a great person, please consider me.’ I’m OK with that, but I’m not going to allow divisive stuff to come downtown at my F1RST Friday.”
11:50 – Mikell asked if anybody complained.
11:55 – Muldrew: “I did.”
11:58 – Sack said they got a lot of positive feedback at the event. Muldrew replied, “I don’t doubt that. I agree with that. Your message resonates a tone with people.” Muldrew went on to say that it isn’t personal as he has other vendors he doesn’t care for, but they “play by the rules.”
12:19 – Mikell asked if it was in writing somewhere that they aren’t allowed to be divisive.
12:23 – “If you read the bottom of that form that you put your money in, it can be. But whether it’s in writing or not, you’re fighting the spirit of this event,” Muldrew said. “I can decide who comes and goes. If you feel like you’re being violated or you want to come down here and be divisive, then we can take that fight on but I don’t think that’s fair to the community that’s coming down here and not looking for something to add drama and divisiveness to their life. You’re saying ‘I have a right to be offensive to people.’
13:05 – Mikell: “No, I don’t think I’m offensive. I think I’m an educational thing. Like, who is responsible for increasing our taxes? Does the average person understand…”
13:15 – Muldrew: “Yeah, but you want to use my event to spread that message and that’s not what my event is about…This is not necessarily an educational event either,” he said after explaining there are literacy organizations that participate.
14:15 – Muldrew: “I don’t like the poster. The big banner out there…I think people that like those folks and, I would like, Roy Thompson, regardless of what you feel about him, Jonathan McCollar, whether your like him or not, he’s got an agenda, they can both come downtown and walk right down the middle of that thing and have a nice time. And if I have to weed out some of these things, people that have agendas, trying to do stuff, for 99% of people to come out and have a nice time…”
“But I’m not going to allow things that I feel like, and I have the last call on it, it’s my event, it’s the DSDA’s event, it’s a fun event….I’m opposing your views at all, I’m just saying it’s not going to happen in the downtown environment.”
16:07 – Mikell: “So the big sign is what you’re mainly concerned with?”
16:15 – Muldrew: “I want you to not look and see how far you can push this thing. Cause that’s not fair to me. I want you to figure out a way that if you’re gonna be a part of this event, how you can do one that does not offend anybody. Are there going to be some people offended? I understand that…”
19:10: Mikell asked if they were allowed to give away cookies or information, to which Muldrew replied that he’d like to see it.
20:00: The discussion pivoted to pro-life people who the DSDA prohibited from posting ‘graphic images’ regarding abortion. Muldrew and another DSDA staffer also said that the event is not the right time for someone to preach or shout ‘Jesus loves you’ either.
20:38: Muldrew: “Why don’t you do your own event? Why do you feel like you have to come to ours?” He then told Mikell that people can’t get a break because they’re [BAC] is there “telling people how miserable they are.”
24:39 – Muldrew: “Apparently you’re still not getting it…I want them to have a fun time. II don’t know if you’re getting that. Sounds like you’re not.”
26:20: Mikell – “I’m not tearing anybody down by speaking the truth.”
26:24 – Muldrew: “You’re still not getting it are you?
26:38: Mikell “Is anything on those signs a lie?”
26:40 – Muldrew: “I thought I was clear. Because I’m telling you, I’m not telling you, you’re still not getting what my event’s about. You’re saying ‘If I’m telling the truth, I can tear everybody down that I don’t like. And I can accuse them of everything they’re doing that’s horrible because it’s the truth.’ And I’m saying, you can. You just can’t do it at my event.”
The full recording is available below.
Ultimate Settlement Agreement
After the receipt of the recording, DSDA’s legal counsel on June 24 sent notice that the DSDA would agree to enter into a settlement agreement which would include the following:
- $80,000 financial pay out in exchange for full release of claims against DSDA
- A public statement apologizing to BAC, Sack, and Mikell
With the agreement being executed this week, the DSDA published their apology on Thursday.
As someone who has participated in First Friday as a vendor and as a visitor, I have always enjoyed the events. I do not think political issues should be a part of First Friday as they are not allowed at the Farmers Market. In recent years the Farmers Market chose to include LGBTQ events in the Market and asked vendors to decorate their booth to show support. I have chosen not to return to the Farmers Market and this is part of the reason. The Farmers Market should remain neutral as well. How about celebrating Farmers, artisans, Veterans, and etc. I am very sad about the cancellation of First Friday for the remainder of the year, this is a wonderful place for families to go and enjoy an evening (free) unless they purchase something. There are always something for them to do. Also vendors will lose revenue which is also very sad. Please make a decision and bring back First Friday. I do not support the payout and think it is a travesty.
Adelia,
Since you’re not attending the farmers market anymore, perhaps you could use your free time to revisit the Constitution. The DSDA is funded by taxpayers, thus they had no right to do what they did.
Legal action was taken because the DSDA violated the First Amendment rights of individuals. There are ways that political speech can be limited in these forums, but the DSDA did not go about it in a lawful or constitutional manner. Again, that’s why legal action was taken.
The DSDA settled because their legal counsel likely advised them that they would not win in court. There is a recording that demonstrates all the ways they violated the First Amendment of citizens included in this article.
It’s also why the DSDA issued a public apology.
I would implore you to set aside your personal opinions and look at this from a constitutional perspective. If you’re unwilling to do that, that is obviously your right…but terribly concerning as government should never overpower the rights of citizens.