Rutland Vermont Board of Aldermen Denies Tax Day Tea Party Permit

With Tax Day, April 15, 2009, quickly approaching, the Tax Day Tea Party Movement has been gaining steam and growing through a nationwide grassroots organization that proves that the movement has broad resonance that spans over political ideology or geographic location.

Rutland, Vermont, is the county seat of Rutland County and the second largest city in the state, and a Tax Day Tea Party has been planned by local organizer John Wallace.

Wallace went through great effort making sure to get all of the procedural guidelines taken care of--while the Right To Assemble is protected by the First Amendment, each locality generally has specific laws to ensure orderly and safe events, ranging from everything from an outdoor music festival to the rare political protest. Wallace worked with the local Department of Parks and Recreation and received a permit after getting signatures from local officials and obtaining insurance according to local ordinance.

"I was told several times that I might not even need a permit to organize the tea party," Wallace said in an interview for Associated Content, "but I wanted to make sure and go through all the protocol to dot the I's and cross the T's."

What came next, though, has left many confused.

The City of Rutland Board of Aldermen, a collection of eleven elected officials, reviewed the permit, and in a meeting on the evening of April 6, 2009, voted to deny the permit, which had already been approved by the Department of Parks and Recreation.

Having consulted with an attorney, Wallace is not sure why the move was made. "We could not even find in the statutes why they had cause to review the permit, much less deny it. At this point we are not sure if it is a procedural or ideological problem."

David Allaire, a former Vermont State Representative, is the President of the Board of Aldermen, and was not available for comment before this story went to press.

Wallace is currently waiting for a transcription of the April 6th meeting's minutes so that a reasoning can be found for the permit denial and to ascertain what further steps may be necessary to allow the Tax Day Tea Party to be properly santioned and within the law.