Parade Committee Drops Peace Coalition Ban

Organizers of this year's Mill Valley Memorial Day Parade said Wednesday that they are officially allowing the Marin Peace and Justice Coalition to participate in the May 30 event, over the group’s message in past parades.

Larry “the Hat” Lautzker, head of the I Love a Parade Committee that runs the event, issued a statement Wednesday saying the majority of the committee had voted to allow the group into the parade. that the committee simply was allowing the group to submit an application for inclusion.

Lautzker said at the time that he wanted to know what the group’s message would be on its banners and posters before allowing it into the parade.

But Mill Valley resident and MPJC member Alan Barnett said the group declined to tell the committee what its message would be beyond the “peace canopies” that will bear the names of people who have died in the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.

“(We) decided to refuse to submit (our) messages because that constituted pre-censorship and a violation of our freedom of speech,” Barnett said in a statement.

In announcing that the committee is letting the coalition into the parade, Lautzker emphasized his point of view that the celebrates the town and its people and is not meant to be an overtly political event.

"Memorial Day is not about division," he said. "It's about reconciliation; it is about coming together to honor those who gave their all."

The dispute has been ongoing for several years and the latest contrioversy was the result of the coalition’s banners last year that read “End the Immoral Occupation of Iraq, Afghanistan and Palestine.”

Barnett said that while he is pleased with the decision, he still thinks the City of Mill Valley should take ownership of the parade and allow anyone to participate who wishes to do so.

The 411: The 2011 Mill Valley Memorial Day Parade starts at 10:30 a.m. on Monday, May 30. Applications are still be accepted. The parade will be preceded by the annual Pancake Breakfast put on by the Mill Valley Volunteer Firefighters Association.