BY JIM BARON

PROVIDENCE – When all is said and done, the U.S. Conference of Mayors may make more news about the protests surrounding it than the substance of its meetings that started Friday.

In the shadow of a threatened picket by Providence Firefighters that prompted top officials of the Obama administration, including Vice President Joseph Biden, to cancel their confirmed appearances, a new controversy has arisen over the efforts of Providence Mayor David Cicilline’s efforts to manage the protests.
The city of Providence’s website has a downloadable “protester registration form,”  that asks those planning a demonstration at any of the mayors’ conference events to voluntarily provide information about their group, and where and when and with how many people they are expecting to participate in the protest.
The city has also established sites euphemized as “public viewing areas” that will keep protesters behind temporary barriers, in most cases across the street from where conference activities are taking place. The temporary barriers – lengths of metal fencing that resemble bicycle racks, and, across from the RI Convention Center where conference meetings will take place, Jersey barriers are already in place at sites downtown.
This has aroused the ire of the Rhode Island affiliate of the American Civil Liberties Union.
In a press release, ACLU Executive Director Steven Brown called on Cicilline to remove the registration form and viewing areas from the city’s website.
Brown released a letter addressed to Cicilline that reads in part: “As I know you recognize, the city has no right to demand that individuals “register” in order to exercise their fundamental right to protest in public. Indeed, the very notion of a city-produced ‘protester registration form’ is itself extremely troubling.
“The form strikes us as particularly problematic because it seeks information from individual protesters as well,” the letter continues. “If the purpose of the form is to obtain an idea of crowd size, why even try to seek registration information from individuals as opposed to the organizations expected to be planning protests? The potential chilling effect is obvious. No person desiring to peacefully protest in a public forum should even have to think that he or she must first register with the government in order to do so.”
The ACLU also took exceptions to the designated protest areas.
Saying that the rules for the public viewing areas are “just as confusing” as those for the protester registrations, Brown asked, “What does it mean that certain areas are ‘closed’? Are they closed to everybody or to just protesters? On what basis have these determinations been made? Are these also ‘voluntary’ guidelines, or will there be a police presence to enforce these closures? Will demonstration activities be allowed only at the specific areas listed on the form? How does a group of protesters administratively challenge these designations? Perhaps most distressingly – but not surprisingly, in light of the deliberate ambiguity of the City’s stated plans – a number of callers have nervously inquired as to whether ‘public viewing areas’ may be a euphemism for appalling ‘protest cages’ that have been used in other cities in recent years to pen protesters during large demonstrations.”
Cicilline, who at one time served as an ACLU lawyer, issued a statement Friday that said: “The voluntary registration for protesters developed by City public safety officials is consistent with what other cities have done when hosting large conferences such as the U.S. Conference of Mayors.   By asking protesters to register, it gives public safety officials a better idea of how to manage resources to ensure the safety of protesters and visitors as well the smooth flow of traffic and access to emergency services throughout the city."
Providence City Councilman Seth Yurdin also questioned the restrictions on protest at the mayors’ event.
"Sadly, there is much evidence to suggest that these types of regulations can be used an instrument for stifling and discouraging freedom of expression.  In fact, it was under the Bush administration that their scope and use was widely expanded.  The City of Providence should avoid implementing such measures unless they are clearly justified by the circumstances.
"Recognizing that some restrictions of freedom of speech are supported under the U.S. Constitution, limits on free speech such as "protest pens" have only been permitted when there is a real threat of violence - such as the threat of riots like those occurring in Seattle at the WTO event and at extremely large-scale events like the national political conventions and appearances of the President. At least from news accounts to-date, it does not appear that any such violent protests are slated for Providence.
Cicilline Press Secretary Karen Southern referred questions about the protest measures to Peter Gaynor, head of the city’s Emergency Management Agency.
“This is obviously a large event for the city, a national event, so we have been doing planning for probably six months,” Gaynor told The Times. “Part of our concern was, some of the mayors might bring their own issues with them to Providence, they may drag some protesters along with them.
“The guidelines came from other cities around the United States that have dealt with protests or large public demonstrations. We whittled it down to what we thought were the most reasonable guidelines,” he said.
Gaynor noted that the Jersey barriers were erected along Sabin Street across from the Convention Center because that is a heavily travelled road and authorities wanted to separate vehicle traffic from pedestrian traffic for safety reasons.
He said the areas were set up so protesters could be within “sight and sound” of the various event. “They will be able to voice their opinion, whatever their issue is or with whatever mayor they have an issue with.”
Paul Doughty, president of the firefighters union, said Thursday that he believes the guidelines are intended “to silence us and put us off to the side. So not only is it a contract issue, it is a constitutional issue.” 
“The only way to describe the fenced in areas are chicken coops,” said Pat Crowley, editor of the RI Future blog, one of several organizations that the Cicilline administration mailed protester registration forms to directly. “It is unconstitutional and unconscionable that the city of Providence thinks this is an adequate response to people protesting in the city.”
Noting Cicilline’s past relationship with the ACLU, Crowley said Thursday, “this is a dramatic departure from his prior stances on the right of the people to protest their government.”