City Commissioner Amanda Fritz plans to file an amendment to the new sit-lie ordinance before this afternoon's vote—to remove a freedom of speech exception to the law.

Until now, the law has allowed two feet nearest the curb for people to sit down. Then there's a six foot pedestrian through zone from the building out toward the street, which needs to be left clear for pedestrians to pass "on foot." The idea is to free things up for people in wheelchairs, says the mayor.

But last week, it emerged at the end of the hearing on the law that a group of three or more people could block the pedestrian through zone, if they claimed they were engaging in an act of protest or free speech, and then not be cited. Amanda Fritz doesn't understand why that exception exists, and plans to call for it to be dropped today.

The proposed amendment gets to the heart of what Portland Copwatch activist Dan Handelman called the "million dollar question" about this law, in an email to commissioners sent earlier this week.

We want to begin by repeating the "million dollar question" raised by Commissioner Fritz about the exception to blocking the sidewalk that is allowed for free speech events: She asked, if there's any exception to keeping the sidewalks clear for people with disabilities, what's the point of having the ordinance? Indeed. We want to be clear—we strongly support that sidewalks should be open for free speech events, and for anyone, whether it's three or more people as designated in the ordinance draft or one person with a button saying "I'm protesting the sidewalk ordinance." However, the Commissioner's question goes to the heart of the problem: if clear sidewalks are the goal, why are there exceptions for sidewalk cafes, A-Boards, newspaper stands, parking vending stations, and other obstructions?

Fritz says "there's no need for it," when I ask about the free speech exemption. "People already have the freedom to assemble and speak," she says—meaning, they can do so in the zone of the sidewalk reserved for that. "I don't want to get into any arguments about what people are doing. If they're sitting in the pedestrian zone, there's a violation," she continues.

Does she have any constitutional concerns about dropping the free speech exception?

"To me, it's just like the street," she says. "We have places to park in the street, and you can't speed through those. People can ask for things or ask people to sign stuff, but I don't have any concerns about the constitutionality of this. It applies the same to everybody."

Fritz is also planning to add an amendment calling for police to give an oral warning before the written warning, and another calling for six months of education and outreach before the law is enforced. There will also be an affirmative defense added, if somebody is only a couple of inches outside the zone but thinks they are complying the law.

Does Fritz have the support of her fellow commissioners?

"I'm just about to go talk with all of them," she says. "I've talked with the mayor about this, and I think he's pretty comfortable with it."