The Temecula Valley Unified School District board is facing controversy yet again, this time being accused of using a soccer-style yellow/red card system to stifle public comment in violation of the First Amendment and California’s open meetings law.
Upneed Dhaliwal and Julie Geary have filed suit against the district, the board and President Joseph Komrosky individually after he “repeatedly ordered numerous members of the public, including Plaintiffs, removed from Board meetings when they were not engaged in disruptive conduct,” the plaintiffs said in a lawsuit filed on Thursday.
The lawsuit was first reported by Seamus Hughes’ Court Watch.
As part of what the plaintiffs called “an innovative approach to expelling members of the public from open Board meetings,” Komrosky allegedly instituted the new rules in June.
“What I’m gonna do tonight, we’ll do something new to save time,” the lawsuit quotes Komrosky as saying. “If I give you this (holding yellow card up), from all my soccer buddies that’s your first warning. If I give you a second one and this, (holding red card up), you’re out, you can see yourself out. A disruption can be a loud outburst or even something like constant talking in the rear that causes one of the board members and staff here to lose the ability to concentrate and thus govern properly.”
Komrosky added that during public comment, despite “controversial comments coming from both sides,” yelling or interrupting the speaker would not be allowed.
“I don’t care who you are, it’s just not gonna happen tonight,” he allegedly said. “This is fair notice that if you have a burning desire to cause disruption, you’ll be removed.”
However, in the months following the debut of the soccer card system, the definition of disruptive comment shifted, the plaintiffs argue.
“The revised regulations and Poster make clear that Mr. Komrosky or his designee will order members of the public removed when they engage in conduct they deem merely ‘likely to disrupt’ the meeting, rather than ordering removal only when an attendee engages in conduct that actually disrupts the meeting,” the lawsuit says.
The board, which has considered controversial rules regarding LGBTQ students and their supporters, has ejected audience members on both sides of debates on the issue, including a teacher for calling a board member a homophobe and a local pastor for saying another board member is “probably a communist.”
Neither the teacher nor the pastor “were disruptive in any way,” the lawsuit says.
“They were both clearly expelled for no reason other than the content of their comments,” the lawsuit explains.
Geary herself was ejected not for disrupting a meeting but instead for raising concerns about “what she perceived as a double standard about what speakers are allowed to do or say based on whether they are supporting the board majority or not supporting it,” the lawsuit says.
Dhaliwal was ejected after Komrosky “apparently determined that her comments did not address the agenda item” she was at the podium to discuss, the lawsuit says. Dhaliwal allegedly continued speaking after her microphone was cut, prompting Komrosky to give her a red card.
The plaintiffs are only seeking $1 from Komrosky, though they do want their attorney’s fees covered.
Instead of a financial award, the plaintiffs want the board to stop “restrict[ing] protected expression at open and public Board meetings,” they said.
The district did not immediately return a request for comment.