Northbrook trustees rejected a push last week from Village President Kathryn Ciesla to place a temporary moratorium on use of the village’s controversial public sign forum on a downtown corner.
Instead, the Village Board chose to allow the display of opinion to remain active while Northbrook seeks public input on the future of the free speech “triangle,” a small plat of village property on the northwest corner of Shermer Road and Walters Avenue. There, applicants are free to post political and other opinion messages for up to 30 days.
During a two-hour discussion at the board’s Feb. 10 regular meeting, trustees and almost all of the 10 speakers who addressed the Board expressed support for continuing to provide the public platform, first instituted 30 years ago, without restrictions on speech.
Only Simona Bogode, a representative of the Chicago Jewish Alliance, suggested the Board consider the effect some printed symbols, such as swastikas, may have on members of the local community, in particular families of holocaust survivors.
The alliance currently has a sign posted at the triangle, but at least one of its previous signs was mysteriously removed “without explanation or conversation,” Bogode said.
“The law may allow use of holocaust images, but there are deeper questions of whether a community chooses to normalize it,” she said. “Leadership is tested not in comfort, but in moments that reveal what a community truly stands for.”
Village staff recommended a temporary moratorium on use of the site until the Board determines whether or not to change the policy, which limits the number of signs to two at a time and requires applicants to request space no less than 10 but no more than 30 days before posting.
Village Manager Cara Pavlicek said residents, ranging from one at a time to thousands in a single case, have sometimes expressed anger at staff and the village for allowing signs they find offensive. The public forum sits kitty-corner from the Northbrook Metra station.
Pavlicek said police assistance has been needed at the site mostly to address graffiti and property damage to signs.
“Keeping the peace is not a common issue at this location,” she said.
Village Attorney Steve Elrod, who provided a detailed report on the rights users of the forum are afforded under the First Amendment, said the only other community in the North Shore that provided such a space was Highland Park, but it was eliminated.
Pavlicek said only two other communities in the northwest suburbs in Cook and Lake counties provide such a forum.
Ciesla, whose push for a moratorium died for lack of a second to the motion, said she would like to see Northbrook require a QR code on all signs to let viewers “access conversation to provide input” on a sign.
“There are not many people here today,” she said of the Feb. 10 meeting, “but dozens have said, ‘Please get rid of these signs.’ At the same time, there are some who say, ‘Do not get rid of this.’”
Trustee David Israel said he likes the idea of identifying the person or organization that posts a sign, which would make him feel more “confident” in continuing to allow the signs at the forum.
“I would rather have people thinking initially of the consequences of putting up a sign and talking about it in a civil manner, rather than just putting up a sign,” Israel said. “I do not want to end free speech. There is no need to. We have other venues for having that, but we do need to think about how we can best foster expression of free speech in our community in a safe manner.”
Pavlicek said the village can gather adequate feedback from residents in 90-120 days by inviting residents to a meeting, surveying residents and creating a dedicated place for them to submit comments.
Among the three options staff presented in writing at the Feb. 10 meeting are:
• Convert the triangle into a “council ring” to give people a place to “engage in person and to peacefully exchange open ideas.”
• Remove the designation of the property as a public forum and discontinue allowing all signs or displays.
• Continue with the current practice of allowing up to two signs at any one time for up to 30 days with no restrictions on content “in accordance with the (U.S.) Supreme Court decisions” discussed at the meeting.
