Dispute over filming prompts Encinitas official to cancel event

ENCINITAS — A community meeting hosted by Councilmember Luke Shaffer was abruptly canceled late last month following a dispute over whether a former elected official had the right to record the event.

The April 25 town hall-style gathering at the American Legion was billed as an informal opportunity for Shaffer to hear from residents who may feel uncomfortable speaking at formal City Council meetings.

However, tensions flared when former mayor Tony Kranz, seated alongside local attorney Marco Gonzalez and Marlon Taylor, school board president for the Encinitas Union School District, set up a camera on a tripod and started recording the event.

According to several attendees, Shaffer asked Kranz to stop filming, saying he wanted to create a welcoming environment where people could speak freely without the pressure of being recorded.

“I have every right in the world to record the video,” Kranz told The Coast News. “It’s pretty common for elected officials to be recorded when speaking.”

The disagreement escalated, prompting two attendees to contact law enforcement. One resident, who asked not to be named, told The Coast News the exchange made the atmosphere tense and disappointing, especially for residents who wanted to speak with their elected official without being recorded or filmed.

Shaffer said he ended the meeting following the exchange with Kranz.

“Look, I’m not going to let you make this an unwelcoming environment for my constituents,” Shaffer told The Coast News. “So this meeting will end, unfortunately, if you cannot just stop (recording).”

David Loy, legal director of the First Amendment Coalition, said the gathering was not a formal City Council meeting, and thus not subject to California’s Brown Act, which guarantees the public’s right to record open meetings of legislative bodies.

“This is not a City Council meeting, because it’s not the City Council itself,” Loy said.

Under the Brown Act, the right to record applies to official meetings, but not to events hosted by a single council member. The First Amendment protects recording in public spaces such as streets and parks, but not in all settings.

“The First Amendment most strongly protects the right to record that which occurs out in public, in a traditional public forum,” Loy said.

Since the meeting took place in a controlled, private venue — the American Legion — restrictions on filming could be legally permissible, according to Loy. Without written rules beforehand, enforcing restrictions carries “the risk that restrictions on recording could be unevenly or arbitrarily applied.”

Thad Kousser, a political science professor at UC San Diego, said the dispute is part of a national trend in which town halls have become increasingly polarized.

“Town halls [have] increasingly become combative venues to shout out the issues of the day, rather than a deliberative conversation between an elected official and their constituents,” Kousser said, noting that polarization, once primarily seen at the national level, has filtered down to local governments, resulting in “more contentious interactions even in nonpartisan municipal settings.”

Kranz defended his decision to film the meeting, saying it was intended to promote transparency and expand access to residents who could not attend in person.

“Providing people with the opportunity [to] hear him speak is for the public good,” he said. “I appreciate the fact that he had a right to ask people to not record video, but I have a right to record video, so I exercised my right and was not willing to give up my right.”

Kranz said his intent was not to intimidate or disrupt but to create a public record and promote government accountability.

Shaffer said he was also concerned that video from the event could be selectively edited and used to misrepresent him, a trend he said has occurred before locally and elsewhere. He said the primary goal, however, was to protect residents’ comfort and privacy.

“It was partially for me,” Shaffer said. “But the bigger part was definitely just to create that environment for the people that just want to live their happy lives in Encinitas, they might have a couple questions, and they don’t want to be intimidated by some social media posts or next door neighbor.”

Kranz also attended a separate meeting hosted by Councilmember Jim O’Hara at City Hall, where he again set up a camera to record. O’Hara could not be reached for comment.

“I think that having an informed community benefits everybody,” Kranz said. “A lot of things get spun these days, and this is one way that we can hear what someone actually said, and give the people the opportunity to hear it.”

Kranz said he plans to continue recording public meetings when appropriate. Shaffer, meanwhile, said he will explore hosting future gatherings in private homes with clearer expectations.

“Going forward it’s going to just have to be at a private citizens house,” Shaffer said. “And again, this is something I’m offering, these meetings are not something I’m required to do.”

The incident highlights a broader tension between open government and creating safe, accessible spaces for community dialogue.

“While the right to record is important and serves important values, it doesn’t necessarily guarantee the right to record everything, anywhere, at any time,” Loy said.