Saturday, April 18, 2009

Canvassing in a gated community? Call the cops!

telegram.com News: "On April 6, selectmen candidate Thomas R. Creamer was campaigning at Bentwood Drive, off Route 15, when Town Clerk Lorraine Murawski called police to say there was “someone campaigning door-to-door” at the gated community. “It had nothing to do with me,” she said. “I was doing my job as town clerk, trying to get an answer to a question from a resident.” Ms. Murawski, a Bentwood resident, was working at the Town Hall when she got a call from concerned neighbor asking if campaigning on the grounds was allowed. “It’s a gated community, and I said I was not aware of whether or not it was legal for somebody to park and walk but that I would check it out,” she said. Ms. Murawski said she called police to find out if such solicitation was legal. They put her through to an officer and she explained the situation. Even though a resident had invited him into Bentwood, Mr. Creamer said, he parked his car outside and walked onto the grounds. He said he looked to make sure there were no signs posted outside. “There is nothing that says, ‘No soliciting’ and nothing that says, ‘You can’t come on these grounds,’ ” he said. “I looked just to make sure. So I go in, going door-to-door.”

After police sent an officer to Bentwood, Ms. Murawski got a call back from police saying Mr. Creamer wasn’t doing anything wrong. Shortly afterward, Mr. Creamer drove to Town Hall to file his campaign finance report. He told the town clerk he was very disappointed in her. "

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Hey, no campaigning in Privatopia. It might cause debate and deliberation about important issues, and that could lead to democracy.

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