American Flag, Constitution ‘Prop’ Ban Repealed In Edison

EDISON, NJ — Council on Wednesday officially repealed the controversial ordinance that sought to ban props during meetings. The list of props included the American flag and Constitution.

The move came after the township received severe backlash and national notoriety for passing the ordinance late last year.

The ordinance set rules of decorum, which prevented residents from using “props” during meetings.

Resident Joel Bassoff who was ejected from a previous meeting for holding up an American flag, thanked the council members for repealing the ordinance.

“The right of free speech is so precious that it’s important that we preserve it and if we have to listen to speech that’s repugnant, people should have the maturity and the respect not to sue that type of language in a setting such as this,” Bassoff said.

“It’s regrettable that they do, nevertheless they do have the right to do it and hopefully after they get this performance out of their system, they will use the right of free speech in a way that is truly informative and persuasive.”

The ordinance was introduced by Councilman Nishith Patel, who was then Council President. He later went on to apologize to the community and his colleagues for the “confusion surrounding the decorum ordinance.”

Another resident praised the council for fixing “the wrong.” He said although Patel made some bad decisions as Council President, hopefully, he would learn from them.

Councilman Richard Brescher said he has been accused of bringing people to the Council meeting to oppose the ordinance. “It’s crazy how they make a mistake and blame others for their mistake,” Brescher said.

Brescher, along with Council President Margot Harris and Councilman Ajay Patil were the only members who opposed the ordinance.

Patil said he was glad to see the ordinance being repealed. “Better to be late than never. So, this council learned what went wrong. Let's move forward,” Patil said.

Have a correction or news tip? Email sarah.salvadore@patch.com