Thanks to MassLive’s Lori Stabile for the coverage of today’s situation in Palmer, MA:
PALMER – During a public auction of town-owned properties on Thursday, only registered bidders were allowed to attend, the media and other members of the public were banned, and a New Hampshire man was arrested.
Town officials took the unusual step of allowing only registered bidders inside the auction, held inside the Town Building on Main Street, to prevent a group of protesters from potentially disrupting the proceedings.
One of the four properties that was auctioned – 3157-3159 Main St. in the Bondsville section – was seized for non-payment of taxes from Bondsville call firefighter Joseph “Jay” Noone, who had approximately a half-dozen supporters at the duplex during the open house held before the auction.
Noone, who was evicted from the property last year, owed approximately $35,000 in back taxes and legal fees. The property sold for $19,000 at the auction.
“I’m making people aware this is stolen property,” Noone, 33, said outside his former home.
Noone contends that he shouldn’t have to pay property taxes, and said he plans to file a federal lawsuit against the town.
“The lawsuit is going to say the town has violated my right to own private property,” said Noone, who is now renting an apartment.
Concerns about Noone and his group prompted officials to restrict who could enter the auction, and to post signs saying videotaping is not allowed inside the Town Building.
Police were stationed inside and outside the building to enforce those conditions.
William C. Newman, Western Massachusetts American Civil Liberties Union director, said he thought it was disturbing for a public event to be closed by the government, in anticipation of a disruption.
“I don’t think you can close an open, government function to the citizens because you might not like what the citizens are going to say,” Newman said. “There are all sorts of ways people can be removed . . . They are restricting free speech and restricting the press’ right to cover the event.”
“We the people of the commonwealth believe in government in the sunshine and not government in the shadows,” Newman added.
Ian Freeman, 32, also known as Ian Bernard, was arrested for disorderly conduct for using his video camera inside the building.
Last summer, on the same day another auction of town-owned properties was held, officials attempted to evict Noone from the property, but were greeted by Noone’s supporters, some of whom wore shirts saying “Tyranny Response Team.”
Town Manager Charles T. Blanchard said lawyer Peter Brown, who is involved in the tax taking, suggested a policy be in place to prevent the use of video cameras. No specific law was cited by Blanchard regarding the restriction on attendance, and banning of video cameras. Still photography was allowed in the building.
Blanchard said he felt the actions were necessary because the protesters were there “to intimidate prospective bidders.” He said that according to Brown, a public auction is not a public meeting, and attendance could be limited to qualified bidders only.
“Their goal was to disrupt it,” Blanchard said about the protesters.
Blanchard said he concluded that videotaping needed to be banned because he was told Noone’s supporters were “sticking cameras in people’s faces” last year. Blanchard said he never saw the video and just heard about it.
“That isn’t something we need to have when trying to conduct” the auction, Blanchard said.
A designated area for the protesters was set up outside the building. Noone, accompanied again by his supporters, had flyers saying the property was stolen from him by an unsigned judgment in a tax lien case.
Three protesters were allowed to remain in the hallway outside the auction after they agreed to be quiet.
“It’s a closed auction for special elite people. It doesn’t surprise me,” Noone said.
Freeman said he challenged the police when he was told he couldn’t videotape inside the hall, and cited the Glik decision, after Simon Glik, who was arrested after videotaping police officers with his cell phone as they arrested a man in Boston; a judge ruled Glik was exercising his First Amendment rights in filming the officers in a public space, and that his Fourth Amendment rights were violated by his arrest without probable cause.
Freeman denied the charge at his arraignment later that afternoon in Palmer District Court before Judge Patricia T. Poehler, where he was released on his own recognizance. He will return to court on Dec. 10. Noone and the group also attended the court proceeding.
Freeman, who has a talk radio program in Keene, N.H., called “free talk live,” said he was at the auction as a media member, and to hold government and employees accountable.
Prosecutor Colleen Martin said police said Freeman was “argumentative” and “confrontational” and that his actions were causing a disturbance in the hallway.
“I wasn’t causing a disturbance,” Freeman said.
Freeman said in his opinion, officials couldn’t just put up posters forbidding videotaping because someone was uncomfortable about it.
“Clearly I didn’t harm anybody,” Freeman said.
Poehler told Freeman that “even if you think that it’s wrong for them to stop you, do not fight with them.” She said the way to approach a situation like that is to leave and file a court action.
The auction, conducted by The Zekos Group of Shrewsbury, netted $90,000 in revenues for the town.
The other properties that were auctioned included 81 Mt. Dumplin St., which included a 1,276-square-foot single-family split-level home and contiguous vacant land parcel, which went for $37,000 to Sergio A. Dias, of Ludlow, who reported approximately 20 people were in the auction room. A Colonial home at 42 Commercial St. went for $15,000 and a lot at 1532 North Main St. was sold for $1,750, according to Treasurer-Collector Paul Nowicki.
The goal of the auction was to return dormant properties to the tax rolls, officials said.
Blanchard said everyone has to pay their taxes.
“How can you run a government, whether a federal or local government, if everyone doesn’t pay their fair share?,” Blanchard said.
