A mysterious lawsuit tries to sink Seaside’s massive plans for growth

By the way, I almost didn't post this because it seemed too local for Tilde's international users. In the end, I went ahead because it's interesting to me and I'm sorta using Tildes for bookmarking news articles that I'd like to remember. But I wonder if there's any better way to handle local news on Tildes? If there was a California group then I'd post it there.

From the article:

Steve Herum, the Stockton-based attorney representing the plaintiff, says keeping his client’s identity confidential is their First Amendment right. He points to the case of NAACP v. Alabama, in which Gov. George Wallace tried to force the NAACP to reveal its membership rolls before issuing them a permit to march.

“They fear retaliation from the government,” Herum says. “We’re trying to protect the people who are impacted by these decisions. It’s a huge decision by the city. It will affect who has building permits, who has water supply and there’s a bait-and-switch going on… there’s a distinct possibility the non-residential portions will never be built.

[...]

In the lawsuit, “they claim a number of citizens spoke against the project. And there’s nothing more inaccurate than that,” Bakewell Jr. says. If you attended the meeting, he’s right: The black activist community of Seaside, backed by unions, rallied support for Campus Town, showing up en masse wearing T-shirts reading “We Heart Campus Town.” In fact, other than the attorney with the letter, virtually nobody spoke that night in opposition.