Gente Organizada and the ACLU Foundation of Southern California took legal action against Pomona Tuesday after the community group was ordered to remove three banners with political messages hung outside its building, including one that urges defunding the Pomona Police Department.
“Gente Organizada brings this petition to challenge the city of Pomona’s clear and gross violation of the most fundamental of constitutional rights, the right to free speech,” the Los Angeles Superior Court petition states.
Gente Organizada and the ACLU want a judge to find the applicable zoning ordinance section unconstitutional and to set aside a hearing officer’s upholding of a citation against the organization.
An attorney for the city did not immediately reply to a request for comment made after regular business hours.
Gente Organizada is a community-led nonprofit organization based in Pomona that bills itself as organizing to build intergenerational power and wellness for youth and immigrant families. The group owns and operates a youth center in the 600 block of West Holt Avenue.
Two pieces of art hang on the front of Gente Organizada’s building. One depicts people marching with a sign that reads “Defund Pomona police” and the image on the second resembles a roll of film with images of a protest integrated into it.
The third banner is on one side of the building and shows community partners integrated with images of flowers and a landscape along with the message, “End institutional violence.”
Gente Organizada received a city citation in March stating that the banners had to either be removed or the organization had to obtain approval from the Planning Department for a temporary banner permit, and that action had to be taken by March 21, the petition states.
A section of the Pomona City Code referenced in the citation instructed that banners shall only be permitted for advertising a grand opening, change of business or ownership and for nationally recognized holidays, provided that the proper requirements are met, the petition states.
A month later the city sent a citation to the home address of a Gente Organizada co-founder, according to the petition. The co-founder ultimately paid $172 and the city granted the organization’s administrative hearing request, the petition states.
However, in upholding the citation the hearing officer concluded that the city’s ordinance was not a content-based restriction on speech, is constitutional and that the city may enforce it, the petition states.
According to the petition, the permit requirements in the city’s municipal code apply to business-related signs or signs of a commercial nature, but the hung images for which Gente Organizada was cited do not convey a business-related message and the organization is not a traditional seller of goods or services.
In addition, the code is unclear and vague, making it impossible to determine whether certain signs or banners are exempt from permitting requirements, require a permit or are altogether impermissible, the petition states.
“In short, the city’s actions constitute a clear violation of fundamental constitutional rights,” according to the petition.