The City of Selma and the Selma Enterprise have become entangled in a fight over the placement of news racks on the north side of town.

Last week, four coin-operated news racks intended to sell copies of the Selma Enterprise were put up in residential neighborhoods. Within a week, the City had them removed.

The two entities now seem headed into a battle of legal issues and First Amendment Rights.

Randy Rickman, president of Lee Central California Newspapers, which owns The Enterprise, addressed the City Council on the issue Monday night after spending the day speaking with police and city code enforcement.

City officials say that the news racks violate ordinances prohibiting the obstruction of sidewalks and are considered by city code to be a nuisance affecting public peace and safety.

Rickman says that the city acted illegally by taking down the racks without proper documentation and is violating the newspaper's First Amendment Rights.

Deborah Collette, circulation manager for The Enterprise, didn't realize the uproar that would come when she decided to place the news racks in residential neighborhoods in Selma on Feb. 25.

"The reason I put them there was to provide an added service to people who live away from downtown," Collette said. "I thought it was a convenient way for them to get the newspaper."

The racks were placed on the corners of Dockery Avenue and Goldridge Street, Dockery Avenue and Tammy Lane, Dinuba Avenue and Garfield Street, and Nelson Boulevard and Highland Avenue. None of the racks were placed in front of any residences.

Collette said that one of the racks sold out of papers in one day and the others were down to only one or two copies left, leading her to believe that many residents appreciated the close proximity of the newspaper racks.

However, not all residents in the area were happy to see them.

"You (The Enterprise) opened up Pandora's Box," said Tim Nuanes. "Now anybody could come in and put anything up on the corners."

Nuanes said that he fears looking out his window one day and seeing machines and racks of "nickel-budget" papers lining the sidewalks of his neighborhood.

Nuanes and other neighbors apparently voiced their concerns to city officials, who contacted The Enterprise on Thursday, Feb. 28 with instructions that the racks had to be taken down due to code violations.

Rickman said that that the city had failed to provide any city code violation, so he instructed The Enterprise circulation department to leave the machines in place.

The Enterprise and Rickman were then notified on Monday, March 3, that the city had picked up the racks.

City Attorney Neal Costanzo said during a phone interview that the Enterprise had been notified that if the news racks were not removed, the city would remove them.

"So we did," he said. "We have taken them and stored them at a city yard where they are in safe keeping."

On Tuesday morning, the Selma Police Department called the newspaper's managing editor wanting to return the racks to the building, but maintained they would not return them to their locations on the sidewalks.

Rickman said that The Enterprise never received any written citations, even when he requested them in person at the Selma Police Department and the Planning Department on Monday.

Rickman was told by Community Development Director Mike Gaston that the City attorney would issue a letter to the Enterprise explaining the violations and they would have the right to an administrative hearing.

The California Newspaper Publishers Association has taken an interest in the matter. Based in Sacramento, the organization monitors First Amendment issues and provides legislative and legal advocacy for Freedom of Speech issues.

An attorney with the association said the property seizure issue raises questions.

"That violates all kinds of due process, rights that any citizen would have," said James Ewert, legal counsel for the CNPA. "One of the hallmarks of our system is that people are apprised of what it is they are accused of doing that's wrong and have an opportunity to correct it."

In addition to violating due process laws, Ewert said that taking down the news racks could also violate the newspaper's Constitutional rights if the City ordinances are not specific on the guidelines of what is or is not considered obstruction.

The ordinance, 9-1-11, that Rickman was directed to by the city, states that it is "unlawful for any person to obstruct any sidewalk by causing to be placed thereon any obstruction or any material that would interfere with the free passage of persons using the sidewalk."

Ewert said that because the ordinance is so broadly defined, the decision to remove the news racks could have been left to the discretion of one individual without specific guidance from the ordinance. He said similar cases have gone to the U.S. Supreme Court, which ruled in favor of the publications and their news racks.

Rickman told The Enterprise he thinks City Manager D-B Heusser took it in his own hands to decide that the newspaper's racks were in violation.

"I hope the people in Selma understand what freedom is all about," Rickman said. "This is trying to limit a business based on a personal agenda."

Heusser deferred all questions to City Attorney Neal Costanzo.

Costanzo said that the racks were in violation due to their placement in residential areas.

"Certainly, we're not trying to preclude you folks (The Enterprise) from having those coin-operated news racks in the appropriate spots," he said. "We're just trying to limit those to places where it's not going to cause problems for our residents."

However, the language of the ordinance cites nothing specific about residential versus commercial areas when it comes to the obstruction of sidewalks.

At Monday night's council meeting, Rickman spoke to the council about the events surrounding the removal of the news racks and his concerns over the matter. Councilman Dennis Lujan requested that the City try to find some sort of compromise with The Enterprise until the matter could be sorted out legally or otherwise.

"Getting into a war with the local newspaper is not a good thing to do," he said.

Mayor Don Tow said that the council could not take any action at that time because the issue was not on the agenda. The other council members had no comment on the issue.

Rickman was advised that the City attorney would contact him the following morning to discuss the matter further.