At the recent City Council meeting on April 15, 2025, Mayor Pro Tem Dr. Shana Charles and Council Member Dr. Ahmad Zahra announced plans to discuss potentially canceling Resolution No. 2025-023 at the May 6 meeting. This resolution, passed on April 1, 2025, by a 4-1 vote (with Zahra opposing), regulates how materials can be displayed and distributed in city buildings.
The resolution aims to maintain order in public spaces like City Hall, libraries, police and fire stations, and community centers. It establishes guidelines to prevent these areas from being overwhelmed by unchecked distribution of materials, particularly local newspapers critical of the city and its officials. It outlines which publications can be displayed and where they can be distributed.
In response to concerns raised earlier, Mayor Pro Tem Charles and Council Member Zahra are pushing for a reconsideration of this resolution and will also present a draft to rescind the previous decision.
During this debate, other policies, such as City Administrative Policy No. 22 and the Library Materials Selection and Deselection Policies, will stay in effect.
The upcoming discussions could spark renewed debates about public access to materials and the limits of government control in civic spaces. The outcome of the May 6 meeting may lead to new standards for how informational publications are handled in the city.
Council meetings begin at 5:30 pm at City Hall located at 303 West Commonwealth Ave, Fullerton, and can be attended in person, via Zoom, or by phone. Your voice is powerful, but its true strength emerges only when it is heard.
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Categories: Local Business, Local Events, Local Government, Local News
Both the CSUF Titan and the 47-year-old hometown Fullerton Observer should be treasured not banned.
There has never been a problem of city areas being “overwhelmed by unchecked distribution of materials, particularly local newspapers.” There have been only four newspapers (including the Tribune and OC Weekly which both folded years ago) offering their papers in city buildings – hardly overwhelming. Only two local newspapers remain – Fullerton Observer and CSUF Daily Titan.
This whole non-issue reared its anti-Free Speech head after the FFFF blog (Bushala and friends) threatened a lawsuit if the city did not allow its publication (which does not exist) to distribute at city hall.
After the council majority vote to ban all non-governmental publications – the blog celebrated the decision for getting rid of the Observer (which was its actual goal).
Also disturbing was the misinformation presented by the city attorney – where he claimed two of OC’s 34 cities had similar policies banning non-governmental publications. Turns out both cities allow the local newspaper in city buildings. Two cities that did attempt such policies were sued and lost and then had to not only pay their city attorneys to defend the city ban – but also pay hundreds of thousands in settlements to the newspapers that sued them – and allow local papers back into city buildings. What a waste.
Sucks to have your opinion stomped on, doesn’t it? Glad you are able to experience it first hand. You had to know that when using the First Amendment as your crutch, having been on the opposite end of free speech the last several months, you were bound to lose.
Didn’t anyone ever tell you that you can’t have your cake and eat it too?
You know, I might have been on your side if you hadn’t been dead set against the First Amendment for comments you didn’t agree with. Oh well.
Ed Response to Fullerton Troll: Check your previous comments. Those that are abusive are not allowed on this site and go straight to spam.