Houston City Council has moved a proposal from Mayor John Whitmire that would prohibit protestors from gathering outside people’s houses to the Public Safety Committee.
Council members met Wednesday and did not end up voting on the ordinance. Mayor Whitmire said this has been a concern of his ever since he got into office in January. There have been protests outside City Council and his residence in recent months.
"We were working with law enforcement about certain groups and protesters ever since the events of October 7th," he said. "I understand the passion, but we don't get into foreign affairs and that is not Houstonians elected me to deal with."
Whitmire says he looked at how other cities utilize a similar ordinance including Dallas. Some council members agreed to send the proposal to the committee to be worked on while others disagreed and thought the proposal was unnecessary altogether.
Gary Polland is a conservative commentator and editor of the Texas Conservative Review. He said the key with the ordinance will be to keep a balance of free speech with privacy. Polland also believes the proposal will eventually pass but also see some challenges.
"We have a strong-mayor form of government so I expect council will be supportive of it," said Polland. "I believe what ever the city will pass is going to get challenged in court by those that want to continue to harass those that they don't agree with."
Some cities have been able to designate a protest area to keep free speech in tact for the protestors and also take into account the privacy and protect the rights of citizens too.
"You can't be outside banging drums in front of somebody's house in the middle of the night," Polland said.