BY C. G. ROSE
AND LARRY SOBCZAK
The Record Newspaper’s box on North Main Street in Romeo spent an unwanted vacation at the Romeo Department of Public Works Yard over the Memorial Day holiday weekend.
On Thursday afternoon, May 26, Romeo Village President Christine Malzhan left a voice message on The Record’s phone line, threatening removal of the newspaper box under her claim of a local ordinance violation.
Her voice message is available to listen to HERE:
The newspaper box in question has resided stoically in front of the Romeo Cafe for more than six years without any ordinance issues from Malzahn or an ordinance code enforcement official.
Due to the closure of the Romeo Cafe, on Tuesday, May 17, for improved public access, The Record’s newspaper box was moved to a new location next to Main’s Treat Coffeehouse.
As a courtesy, Main’s Treat Coffeehouse owner Jon Rose was informed of the new location. He was delighted that The Record would be available for purchase near his storefront.
In her voice message, Malzahn claimed that without a village issued licensing permit, the newspaper box would have to be removed or she would be contacting the Romeo Village Police Department to issue a citation.
Upon retrieving Malzahn’s voice message, Publisher Larry Sobczak contacted Malzahn by telephone at the village offices, informing her that newspaper box locations on public property are protected under the First Amendment to the United States Constitution.
In that conversation, Sobczak reiterated to Malzhan that in the case of City of Lakewood v. Plain Dealer Publishing, Co., 486 U.S. 750 (1988)., the Supreme Court ruled that a licensing ordinance violated the First Amendment in giving city officials total discretion over the placement of news racks on public property.
Malzhan scoffed at the Supreme Court decision and informed Sobczak that she would additionally be contacting Romeo Village Attorney Mark Clark, then abruptly ended the call.
Within minutes of that conversation, The Record was contacted by Romeo Village Police Officer Richard Soulliere, who was assigned to investigate the claimed ordinance violation.
Soulliere interviewed Sobczak and said that he was not going to issue a citation at that time.
He said that he was going to consult with Clark and Romeo Police Chief Dan Sokolnicki and would call back on Thursday, June 2, his next scheduled duty shift.
In the late afternoon on Friday, May 27, the newspaper box was removed from North Main Street. The box was tracked down to inside a garage behind a locked barbed-wire fence at the Romeo Department of Public Works yard which was closed for the holiday weekend.
The Romeo Police Department was contacted and officers on duty said that the department has not issued a citation and there was no order to remove the box by anyone in the department.
On Tuesday, May 31 the DPW was contacted by Sobczak and they said they were unaware of the newspaper box in their garage.
A few minutes after the conversation at the DPW, The Record received a call from a DPW secretary who said the box was in the garage and that it could be picked up.
The box was picked up shortly after the conversation and returned to its prior location on North Main Street.
The village has made no further contact with The Record on the matter.
