Public Comments

EPA Today Staff
15 hours ago
4 min read

Summer 2026

From the Summer 2026 print edition of East Palo Alto Today

*Read the complete Summer 2026 issue (PDF)

The following comments appeared in the Summer 2026 print edition of East Palo Alto Today. They were selected from remarks made during the June 16, 2026, East Palo Alto City Council meeting regarding proposed amendments to the City's Code of Ethics and Conduct for Elected and Appointed Officials.

The comments are presented in the order they appeared in the newspaper. We invite readers to continue the discussion by sharing respectful comments below.

Mayor Webster Lincoln

East Palo Alto Mayor

I think it’s important to like just have some guidelines around this stuff. You know, it’s not so much necessarily that we see threats of force to council members. But we’ve have seen in the past people in the crowd and are a lot of the people who show up, there’s been shouting matches and verbal threats.

And, you know, I’ve seen people shove other people’s signs and all that kind of stuff. And I think that, you know, we just need to have some clear guide bonds around like those types of things, you know? Because that stuff really does disrupt meetings. I think what’s the most, this is not so much about.

I don’t think this is these proposed changes are limiting speech, you know. But at the same time, it’s more, there’s more self focused on disruptions. And we’ve had a handful of disruptions, I think, this year.

But we didn’t really have clear enough guidelines to address them. Um, I think the first step is usually to recess when there is a disruption. And if their disruption continues, usually there’s an order usually to clear the room.

If they don’t, you know, if that disruption continues.

Ravneel Chaudhary

Dr. Martin Luther King once said, our lives began to end the day we become silent about things that matters, that democracy depends not only on speech, but on the right to organize, protest and practice civil disobedience when necessarily to challenge injustice.

Civil disobedience, when peaceful, has been a catalyst for some of the most important democratic changes in this country. It is not disorder. It is a form of civic accountability when formal channels fall short. I understand that the city must comply with sb707 and no one is disputing that requirement. However, sb707 requires the city to address technological disruptions in meeting in public meetings. It does not require restrictions on expressive conduct. That is not actually interfering with access, safety, or the orderly conduct of the meeting.

The first amendment protects not only polite or convenient speech, but also protest, dissent and expression that may be uncomfortable for the government to hear. Political signs are protective speech. If a sign box access or creates a safety issue, existing rules already address that, but a sign that is not attracting anyone is expression, not disruption. East Palo Alto has a strong tradition of grassroots organizing and civic action. Now tradition should be protected, not narrowed. I urge you all to reject this item.Thank you.

Kenia Nejar

History vindicates the disrupter, not the silenced, the civil rights movement was built on disobedience on people who refuse to be quiet, who marched, protested and demanded to be heard in the face of authority that called them disruptive. Residents have the right to express disagreement with their elected officials and that right is often.

Most importantly precisely when they disagree with government decisions that affect their livelihood.

Passionate advocacy, visible descent, critical speech and signs that are normal parts of civic participation, not threats to order. Wanting to use the police and forcing our city is simply ridiculous to kick someone out of a meeting.

If this is being considered a past council must distinguish between a message they dislike and the conduct that actually prevents these meetings from proceeding. Some folks may take advantage of their power these days.

And simply use this policy to punish people and kick them out of the room in disguise of disruption. There’s council members going on social media lying about.

Some of these instances and calling them riots in social media spaces. And that is not okay. Honor the rights of the people you were elected to serve and do the right thing.

Thank you.

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Editor's Note

Public Comments and Letters to the Editor are recurring features of East Palo Alto Today. It highlights viewpoints expressed during public meetings and invites readers to continue the discussion online. Opinions expressed by speakers and commenters are their own and do not necessarily reflect the views of East Palo Alto Today or the East Palo Alto Center for Community Media.