Letter to the Editor: "Mall Wouldn't Let Protesters/Carolers Hand Out Balloons"

On Thursday, Dec. 1, a small group of us TriValley activists sang satirical carols at Stoneridge Mall. 

One of the activists dressed as Scrooge and heckled the carolers, telling us to take a bath and get a job at Walmart. We had called the mall management a few days earlier and told them of the event. We got an OK for a small number to come to Stoneridge. (Pictures here.)

When we arrived, there were police as well as security guards to greet us. 

Security handed out a small card with the mall rules. Ten singers plus Scrooge started singing with comic relief heckling between songs.

I handed out balloons that said, “99%” or Tax Wall St” or “Tax the rich.” 

A few mothers with toddlers took balloons. Then a security guard told me he had checked with mall management and handing out balloons was not allowed. 

I questioned why others were allowed to hand out paper with the song lyrics but this message was not allowed because it was on a rubber balloon. 

I refrained from giving out any more balloons but asked two security guards for the no-balloon rule in writing. I gave them my card.

Why make a fuss over balloons? When a mother takes a balloon for her child to carry while she shops, she is telling other shoppers she is in agreement with our cause. That shapes public opinion. One rule for shaping public opinion is to go where the public is — the mall. Malls are warm and dry. Malls are crowded. 

Balloons are a non-confrontational way of shaping opinion. You need not say a word when offering someone a balloon. They are not fattening, messy, loud or annoying. It is not hard to write on balloons with wide Sharpie markers.

After about an hour the event was over.  I went home to see if I could find the rules on line at the Simon Corp. website www.simon.com only to find out that they are the largest commercial real estate company in the country. 

But they did not have “RULES AND REGULATIQNS FOR EXPRESSIVE ACTIVITIES AT STONERIDGE MALL” online. 

I went down to the mall the next day to get a paper copy.  I spoke to the mall general manager and asked why I was prevented from handing out balloons. He said the balloons would float to the ceiling. I told him they had no helium.  I asked if I brought balloons that had no helium, would that be allowed? He said he would not stop me. I asked that he give me that in writing. He declined. I asked if someone at corporate headquarters would put it in writing. He said no. 

I later read the “RULES AND REGULATIQNS FOR EXPRESSIVE ACTIVITIES AT STONERIDGE. MALL” and found that mall management is aware of its obligation to allow EXPRESSIVE ACTIVITIES, but they do everything legally possible to make it difficult. 

I scanned the document so I could put it online. They did everything possible to make it difficult to make a soft copy of the document. Extra characters and a numbering of every line confuse optical character recognizer software built into my scanner.  I was able to make a PDF of the document from images. 

It is not easy to get mall management to go along with your EXPRESSIVE ACTIVITIES. The rules should be read carefully and a copy should be obtained from any other mall management office in the Simon Corp group where an action is planned. There are several concerns:

• An application must be filled out several days in advance
• They may ask for a $50 refundable cleaning deposit
• One person has to be responsible
• Insurance may be required, it is unclear who decides
• Every participant must be identified
• Literature and song lyrics must be submitted in advance
• Time and location specified in advance

If you do your homework and get the OK from mall management, balloons are a powerful media to increase public support in a non-confrontational way. You are not going to change anyone’s opinion in the mall, but you can give those who already agree with us a way of expressing that opinion, they in turn encourage others to speak out courageously. 

— Ellis Goldberg, Danville