EDITORIAL: Registering downtown buskers a bad idea

The Fremont Street Experience can turn into quite a freak show. And not in a good way.

Street "performers" can take over the place in pursuit of tips. Some of them are resourceful and interesting. Others are little more than nasty, untalented, poorly costumed or nearly naked panhandlers who drive visitors to the downtown canopy nuts. Which makes city officials nuts.

If the experience were private property, this wouldn't be an issue. The buskers could be escorted off grounds. But the Fremont Street Experience was built with public money on what used to be a public street. Those who enter the area enjoy First Amendment protections. They can't simply be kicked out.

The city has tried to crack down on street performers via ordinance previously, and severely restrictive efforts have been squashed by the courts as unconstitutional. But, just like the buskers themselves, city staff keep coming back with new looks.

As reported by the Review-Journal's James DeHaven, the latest proposed ordinance, to be introduced this week, is a meaningful attempt to recognize the rights of buskers while protecting the visitor experience. The city would create more than three dozen circles with 6-foot diameters along the pedestrian way. Buskers would be allowed to do whatever it is they do inside those circles, but for no more than two hours, at which time they would have to allow someone else inside the circle. The performers couldn't be within 40 feet of each other or within 100 feet of a Fremont Street Experience concert.

These are reasonable restrictions that will keep performers from fighting for turf and allow visitors to easily avoid them. Already, buskers can't be within 20 feet of building entrances and 10 feet of ATMs, retail kiosks, fire lanes and crosswalks. The purpose of this ordinance is to tell buskers where they can perform, not that they can't be there.

The problem with the ordinance, however, is a requirement that buskers register with the city prior to entering a circle. This amounts to requiring a credential for free speech and assembly, and creates an opportunity for authorities to chase off individuals who fail to sign up. Free speech isn't free if you have to register with the government to speak.

The City Council should strike the registration requirement from the draft ordinance.