A battle over the First Amendment has led to the banishment of political candidates from a government-sponsored event series in the City of Statesboro. But before the blanket banishment, the DSDA selectively banned one organization while simultaneously allowing others to continue to participate.
At issue is the Downtown Statesboro Development Authority’s (DSDA) F1RST Friday event which takes place monthly in Statesboro’s downtown. The events, which change themes every month, feature a host of sponsors and vendors in an effort to encourage the community to visit downtown Statesboro. Vendors who participate are charged a $50 registration fee for each 10×10 space.
The DSDA is funded by tax dollars, with money funneling from the Hotel/Motel tax collected by the City of Statesboro, and other state and federal entities. The City of Statesboro lists the DSDA as “one of the city’s commissions or boards’ on its website. For all intents and purposes, it is a government entity subject to the same rules and laws as a city council, county commission, or other government agency. While the DSDA considers itself separate from the City of Statesboro, staff for the DSDA have @statesboro.gov email addresses for their DSDA capacities.
The Issue
During a county commission meeting in March, citizen Lawton Sack, while speaking on another matter, referenced being ‘kicked out of F1RST Friday events.’
TheGeorgiaVirtue filed an Open Records Request on April 16, which revealed that it was Bulloch Action Coalition (BAC), a 501(c)4 organization, that was told it could no longer participate in the events. BAC attended the February event and displayed a sign that read “Higher Taxes Courtesy of [all of the county commissioners names].”
In a February 29th letter from DSDA attorney Andrew LaVoie, who also serves on the Board of Directors for the DSDA, BAC was told 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.”
You can read the letter in its entirety here.
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 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’)
In April, DSDA allowed the following vendors:
- Busbee for DA
- David Bennett For Bulloch County Commissioner
- Habitat for Humanity of Bulloch County (a 501(c)3 organization)
- Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Statesboro (not a commercial entity)
- Pineland CSB (Information HIV & Hepatitis C)
- The Teal House (while the purpose lists ‘promoting the Teal House,’ it also lists ‘SA awareness’)
The May vendors as of the records request fulfillment on April 23, 2024 list:
- David Bennett For Bulloch County Commissioner
- Busbee for DA
- Nick Newkirk For County Commissioner
- Classical Conversations Homeschool
- City of Statesboro – Human Resources Department (not a commercial entity)
- Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Statesboro (not a commercial entity)
It was not until April 29, 2024 that the DSDA decided to bar political candidates from participation, despite their names appearing on the vendor roster less than a week prior. Candidates took to social media to post about the reversal of their participation.
Who Made the Decision?
According to the DSDA website and the 2024 application form for vendors, it is the Executive Director of the DSDA who has ‘sole and exclusive discretion’ on vendor participation. But in emails to candidates who were barred from participation beginning in May, the decision.
Current DSDA Board members, according to the DSDA website on April 30, 2024, include:
- Jason Boyles (City of Statesboro)
- FlorAnne Cruz, Southern Chiropractic and Wellness Center
- Frank D’Arcangelo, DPR Architecture
- Mary Foreman, Wise Choice Realty
- Delores Groomes-Dickey, Brinson, Williams, and Groomes Insurance
- Alan Gross, Georgia Southern University
- Andrew Lavoie, BML Law Group
- Todd Manack, Manack Signature Properties
- Brannen Smith, Morris Bank
The next F1RST Friday event is slated for May 3. Only political candidates and Bulloch Action Coalition are barred from participating. All of the political candidates are challenging sitting elected officials.
Wow!