City officials hope to have responses to all pending G-20 protest permit requests sometime today and public safety director Michael Huss said the city also plans to provide an open protest space "within sight and sound" of the David L. Lawrence Convention Center.
The announcement signaled a possible break in an impasse over the right to protest during the two-day summit of world leaders who will gather here Sept. 24-25 to discuss the global economy.
"I can't answer this for sure, but I think they're going to be accommodated," said Mr. Huss.
A day earlier, acting on instructions from the Ravenstahl administration, city police informed state Sen. Jim Ferlo, D-Highland Park, that they had granted his request for the use of part of Point State Park for a Sept. 23 "Festival of Free Speech."
Mr. Ferlo, an unabashed critic of G-20 policies, said yesterday he is awaiting a meeting with city officials who had earlier said the park was unavailable because it would be used as a staging area for law enforcement during the summit.
Mr. Huss said law enforcement now plans to utilize only the lower half of the park, nearest the city's three rivers, and give Mr. Ferlo's group "the top part of Point State Park, the part closest to Commonwealth Avenue."
Still awaiting word is a coalition of women's groups led by Code Pink, an antiwar organization, for the use of the Lewis and Clark Park in the Strip District. The organization wants to put a tent city in that space.
While Mr. Huss said Mr. Ferlo's was the only application on file for the use of Point State Park, Code Pink and other organizers said yesterday they also had applied to use Point State Park for a tent city during the week surrounding the summit.
"I don't know what he's talking about. I have a copy of it in my hand and my lawyers have a copy of it. Unless they got their papers crossed down there, they should have it," said Francine Porter of Code Pink.
She said she was informed last week by Nadine Brnilovich of the city's special events office that the group's request for space in the park from Sept. 21-25 had been rejected.
Ms. Brnilovich could not be reached for comment.
Also awaiting an answer is a South Side artist who has asked for space there for an arts-related festival keyed to the G-20.
Still another protest, a massive march from Oakland to the Moorhead Federal Building, Downtown, on one day of the summit, was tentatively approved in part.
"Some of these have requested marches through streets where we don't know if they're going to be open yet," Mr. Huss said.
The city's response came after a series of meetings and news conferences by a coalition of protest groups who have threatened to file suit against the city, saying the Ravenstahl administration has stonewalled requests for access to streets and parks during the G-20 summit.
Yesterday, those groups held a news conference at Point State Park after a closed-door meeting with lawyers in anticipation of a lawsuit to force the city to grant their permits.
First Published: August 21, 2009, 8:00 a.m.
