Curtatone: No First Amendment Violations Here

By George P. Hassett

A spokesman for Mayor Joseph A. Curtatone today refuted charges of first amendment violations.

The charges were set forth by representatives of the Somerville Divestment Project (SDP), a group dedicated to lobbying elected officials in Somerville to remove city bonds from Israel.   Representatives of the group said they were barred from participating in this year’s ArtBeat festival in Davis Square.

"We have been at ArtBeat the past two years without a single incident. No shouting matches, no physical confrontations, nothing. As we say back home in New York, there hadn’t been diddly. It is no secret that the mayor opposes our work and now he is targeting us and banning our people from ArtBeat. That is an infringement on our rights as citizens of the United States," said Ron Francis, Ward 3 coordinator for SDP.

Mark Hoarn, Curtatone’s director of communications, said the mayor has barred all exclusively political groups from this year’s ArtBeat and has not targeted SDP.

"The mayor does not think it is appropriate to have a group collecting signatures with the intent to get an issue on the ballot at an arts and cultural event. We want to keep this an arts festival and exclude politics from the discussion.

"This is not a First Ammendment issue. These groups are free to come to ArtBeat and have every right to speak, assemble and have their petitions signed once there," said Horan.

The Green Rainbow Party was the only other group excluded, he said.

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