Holding events on Capitol Hill

Balancing free speech, security, and protesters

An interview with Kiwini Oe of Clear Ink

By Pollywog Gardenvale

Avatar Kiwini Oe is Steve Nelson, co-founder, Executive Vice President, and Chief Strategy Officer of Clear Ink, an interactive agency based in Berkeley, California. Nelson is a graduate of both UC Berkeley and UC Santa Cruz.

Pollywog:  I noticed in the Q&A that Speaker Gingrich mentioned that his organization rented the West Front of Capitol Hill, but then in the chat, TROI Timtam said that it had not been rented. Do you normally charge rent for the use of the facilities at Capitol Hill, and if so, was this a special arrangement?

Kiwini:  Normally the Capitol Hill region is open and free for events. It’s only been closed and invite-only twice: when it first opened in January and on Thursday. Usually people meet up there on their own, and in case of things that may need a watchful eye (like protests) or a sign or two built (like the ACLU event), we go ahead and do it.

The Solutions Day event took more planning and management, and because of the expected capacity and security required, the venue was restricted to invitations and RSVPs. The event was open in that anyone could request an invitation and most were granted if received in time. We talked to the protesters about possibly limiting their numbers just to keep balance with the people who wanted to be workshop attendees, and the press, organizers, security, etc.

I tried to strike the right balance with the protesters, and spent time meeting with them beforehand. They were very respectful about our concerns for griefing and we were clear with them about our commitment to free speech.

American Solutions paid for Clear Ink time to plan, organize, facilitate, manage, etc. but I don’t consider that renting the space. All they paid for was our hours, and there deliberately wasn’t any extra charge on the bill for space rental.

Because the opening of SL Capitol Hill in January was centered around the new congress and Speaker, and featured George Miller, there was a lot of talk that it was a Democratic party sim, or paid for by the Democrats, or that our agenda was biased. Subsequent uses of the venue for protests and Congressman Nadler and the ACLU reinforced this notion. That’s why I was glad when we were approached by American Solutions about holding one of their workshops here.

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