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Opponents of the city manager’s proposal to close city parks and open space areas at night say the rule targets Occupy Boulder protesters and would leave the homeless out in the cold.

At a town hall meeting hosted by Occupy Boulder on Wednesday evening at the Nomad Theatre, about 50 people discussed the rule as well as the possible ramifications.

Many in the crowd disputed the city’s assertion that the measure is not a response to the Occupy movement.

“This rule constrains free speech as well as the right to free assembly,” said Basit Mustafa, a board member for the ACLU’s Boulder County chapter, which wrote a letter to City Manager Jane Brautigam opposing the measure. “It would appear this rule deals with a specific group of people with specific views.”

The proposal would ban staying on city parks and open space between the hours of 11 p.m. and 5 a.m. because of safety concerns and health risks related to encampments.

Many at the meeting agreed that while the rule may be targeted at Occupy Boulder, the homeless would be the ones to suffer.

Carolyn Bninski, director of the Rocky Mountain Peace and Justice Center, said the Occupy movement and the campaign to help the homeless are closely related.

“The homeless were the original occupiers,” she said. “They did not occupy by choice — they occupied because they either lost their income or had some kind of disability that made it impossible to work.”

David Harrison, a Boulder attorney who deals extensively with cases involving the city’s camping ordinance, said he felt the rule would be addressing a non-issue.

“The rationale for this rule was public sanitation and safety, but I’m a little unclear how going through a park is less of a sanitation or safety issue than staying in a park,” Harrison said. “We already have ordinances against public urination and things like that. What this does is make it easier for police officers to issue tickets.”

The meeting’s organizers said they extended invitations to Brautigam and other city officials, but all of them declined. Several people who spoke expressed disappointment with the city government and made plans to run for city government in the future.

“The reason we are here tonight discussing this is because we don’t have the right people in office in the city,” said Cliff Smedly, of Occupy Boulder. “We need to be opposing these people and think about running for office.”

Boulder resident Martin Spector said he did not believe the notion that Brautigam is not targeting the Occupy movement, saying it was her ” ‘I-did-not-inhale’ moment.”

There will be a public hearing on the rule at the City Council meeting Tuesday.

Earl McGowen, of Boulder, said that even if the rule goes into effect, the Occupy movement will continue.

“Those tents are symbolic, and it’s symbolic to sleep in that tent,” he said. “When people start creating rules to stop you, that’s how you know you’re hitting a nerve, that your message is profound. People on that side of the message have been on the right side throughout history.”

Contact Camera Staff Writer Mitchell Byars at 303-473-1329 or byarsm@dailycamera.com.