Our View: Anti-sitting law is needless restriction

Despite the much publicized sidewalk protest of John Martin earlier this year, the outright ban remains a solution in search of a problem.

Mayor Dan Sullivan pushed the ordinance after the protest of Martin, a homeless man who sat and reclined on sidewalks near City Hall to oppose the mayor's policies toward the homeless.

The mayor and Municipal Attorney Dennis Wheeler said they discovered that city laws weren't sufficient to have Martin removed.

But instead of simply giving the city authority to act against a public nuisance or interference, the ordinance makes it illegal for anyone to sit or recline on sidewalks downtown, for any reason -- with some exceptions like medical need.

This was an overreaction when the mayor first proposed it last summer, and it's an overreaction now.

As of Dec. 22, it will be illegal for anyone to sit on a sidewalk -- no matter if they're not in anyone's way, or waiting for a ride or reading a book.

This is a restriction of behavior that goes beyond anything needed to provide free pedestrian and vehicle movement downtown.

Further, if someone is sitting on the sidewalk and holding a sign in protest, praise or anything else, that individual should be free to do so as long as he or she doesn't interfere with the safe passage of others.

If the mayor and the Assembly wanted to guarantee safe passage and public safety, they should have given police authority to do so, not the authority to roust anyone peaceably sitting with their back to a building downtown.

Chief of Police Mark Mew has said police will use discretion in enforcing the law; he's not looking to sweep the streets or target the Occupy Anchorage protesters. That's good. But that also raises the question of the soundness of an ordinance that needs to be selectively enforced -- what are the criteria? Does the nicely dressed fellow who happens to take a seat on a sidewalk get a pass, while the scruffy one gets the bum's rush?

Alaskans are fierce defenders of individual rights, something the Assembly and mayor should have considered a little more closely. Penalize obstructive or dangerous behavior? Sure. But this ordinance goes too far.

Whatever the precedents in other cities, no Alaskan should be breaking the law simply because he sits on a sidewalk.

BOTTOM LINE: Sidewalk ordinance still goes too far.