This week, the LIA Network (operating locally as “We the People, Liberty in Action,” filed a lawsuit against the City of Kerrville requesting injunctive relief regarding two recently-passed ordinances, namely the “peddlers ordinance,” and the ordinance to relieve voters from unnecessary harassment at the polling place.
The LIA Network, including “We the People” (WTP) is an organized political group that supports two city council candidates: Roman Garcia and Barbara Ferguson. You may recall that Kerrville Forward recently sent a cease and desist letter to WTP calling out their illegal campaign flyers. WTP operates like a PAC, but does not disclose their contributions or spending like other local candidates and PACs must do.
The lawsuit, filed in federal court in the Western District of Texas, San Antonio Division, alleges that the “ordinances that the City of Kerrville has recently passed… flagrantly violate the First Amendment of the United States Constitution…” See the full complaint document at the bottom of this page.
The lawsuit is expected to cost taxpayers tremendous amounts of money, but an exact estimate is hard to come by at this time. Other lawsuits against the city, including the one filed by candidate for Place 3, Brent Bates, have already cost the city hundreds of thousands of dollars.
You may also recall that Place 1 Councilmember Roman Garcia (currently a candidate for Mayor) is the one who requested that the peddler’s ordinance be put on the agenda for consideration, and then lied about his request to consider that ordinance. See the video below for evidence of this deception.
Protecting the Polling Place
In recent years, it has become commonplace for candidates and their supporters to set up tents, gatherings, signage, and other campaign parafernalia near the entrance to the Cailloux Theater lobby — where early voting and election day ballots are cast in municipal elections. Many voters found it difficult to enter the polling place without feeling annoyed, harassed, or in some cases accosted by supporters of various candidates.
In 2018, Robert White, husband of mayoral candidate Bonnie White, confronted a voter in the parking lot and so disturbed her that she shared her experience on social media and with the Hill Country Community Journal. See this article.
In March 2024, the WTP group stopped incoming cars at the primary election polling place and offered a “voter guide,” and their actions have drawn ire from many people in the community. See this article.
These actions have made for a toxic environment around the elections, and so City Council took up the matter in 2023 and after much deliberation, passed Ordinance No. 2023-20, the Electioneering Ordinance.
The ordinance requires tents and gatherings of supporters to move to another part of the auditorium parking lot, giving voters a clear path to enter the building without harassment. The ordinance also limits signage around the auditorium.
This year’s municipal election, with early voting beginning on April 22, will be the first time this new ordinance has been in place during an election.
WTP alleges that this ordinance is a violation of First Amendment rights.
Solicitation Ordinance
The 2024 actions of city council to amend an ordinance involving peddlers and solicitors is also a subject of the WTP lawsuit. This ordinance was passed in March and primarily prohibits door-to-door solicitations between the hours of 8 PM and 8 AM. The intention to update this ordinance goes back to 2010 when City Attorney Mike Hayes presented some proposed updates to the ordinance, and since then, the update has been on the “pending” list of priorities for council.
In August 2023, Councilman Roman Garcia asked the city to bring that ordinance up for consideration.
A recent article in the Hill Country Community Journal includes clarifications from City Attorney Mike Hayes. See this article.
“Candidates, canvassers, and others may continue going door-to-door and attempt to engage residents within their homes. They just may not do so between the hours of 8 p.m. and 8 a.m., which is reasonable. That also seems to have the greatest support and is the type of regulation that have been adopted in cities all over Texas and the rest of the country,” said Mike Hayes.
Read Ordinance 2024-03 here.
Litigious Candidates
This means that Roman Garcia, Barbara Ferguson, and Brent Bates all have active direct lawsuits or their supporting political groups have active direct lawsuits against the City of Kerrville — the government entity that they hope to control after the May election. These lawsuits will cost the taxpayers hundreds of thousands of dollars to defend the City in court. For all of the talk of saving taxpayers money, these suits will clearly do the opposite.