I would never have known this about my HOA had it not been for my family’s decision to fly a Black Lives Matter flag. They believe that they can choose which content and whose freedom of speech is allowable. My HOA, Kensington Ridge and Cobblestone Village, believes differently. This right, guaranteed over 230 years ago stands both true and unalienable today as much as it did then. Our first amendment clearly states that our freedom of speech shall not be abridged. My name is Kara Roux Wilkoff and I’m a resident of Littleton, CO. Thank you to the House Transportation and Local Government Committee as well as the bill sponsors Representative Cutter and Rodriguez for being here today. Thank you for your time, your attention, and your passion for making Colorado and my neighborhood of Kensington Ridge a place I am proud to call home. And, that is why your yes vote is so important to me and to my family.
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It is a symbol that free speech matters that the constitution matters. Ultimately, though, our flag is not just a symbol to black members of our community that they matter or to my wife and children that they matter.
You can, with this vote, remove the illusion that a Homeowners Association can govern the content of a flag in the hopes of whitewashing a history of violence and exclusion. You have the power to de-politicize our neighborhood. Passing this bill will mean that no other families will receive letters on official HOA letterhead telling them that their identity is “not approved.” Passing this bill will mean no other households have to hide who they are in order to be accepted within a community. And this type of identity is worthy only of censorship.Īnd that is why I am here in support of HB21-1310. This type of solidarity will somehow lower housing prices. And yet, when my family chose to express this pride in our multi-racial makeup and chose to proclaim, despite much evidence to the contrary, that Black Lives, do indeed, Matter, our HOA has declared this type of pride is not allowed. But so too are we proud of who we are, as Americans and members of a diverse society and democracy. We are proud when our favorite team wins. These things are worthy of showing pride. We have lived in our neighborhood since 2009, and in that time, we have seen flags waive to show pride in a favorite sports team or signs put up to show pride in a graduating senior.
In fact, we have felt, in both the words and actions of our HOA, that the policing of our speech is meant to intimidate and select for only specific types of families to live in our neighborhood (and again, I’m quoting) “promote rising property values.” This organization which oversees 71 homes and whose supposed purpose is to provide access to reliable trash service and to keep the front entryway to our neighborhood looking clean, has baselessly asserted that they have the right to limit any speech they deem inconsistent with, as one HOA board member put it, “a family-friendly place where people have established deep roots.”Īnd yet, the current HOA policy of selectively enforced content-based flag censorship is not friendly to my family. And yet, that is exactly what our Homeowners Association claims.
My name is Ben Wilkoff, and I am here today because I believe there is no institution in American life that the has standing or power to strip the rights afforded to me by the constitution of the United States of America. Here is the transcript and an audio recording of that testimony.ĭear esteemed members of the House Transportation & Local Government Committee and bill sponsors, Cutter and Rodriguez, thank you for holding this important hearing to listen to and learn about how this issue of free speech is directly affecting your constituents. We were asked by ACLU Colorado to provide testimony for The House Transportation & Local Government Committee hearing on May 25, 2021.