Should Occupy Sacramento demonstrators be allowed to camp in Cesar Chavez Plaza across the street from City Hall indefinitely, as some have said they will?

The answer from City Council members who are set to debate this issue tonight ought to be a resounding and unambiguous "No."

Many Americans, including members of the council, share the same sympathies as the protesters. They are frustrated with the economic crisis that has left millions jobless, the growing gulf between the rich and the middle class and poor, the alleged malfeasance of Wall Street financiers who, protesters believe, have fomented the crisis and escaped consequences.

It's hard to understand why camping out indefinitely in Caesar Chavez Plaza changes any of that. Moreover, public sympathy for occupiers in Sacramento, New York and other cities around the country and the globe is likely to evaporate if they cross the line from expressing their belief to becoming a public nuisance, or worse. Riots in Rome are a sobering hint of how things can spiral dangerously out of control.

Locally, protesters have acted with restraint, but they have ample opportunity to exercise their First Amendment rights without turning parks into illegal campgrounds. City parks open at 5 a.m. and close at 11 p.m. on weeknights and midnight on weekends.

Suggestions by some council members that protesters be granted a special use permit to continue their demonstrations 24/7 puts city government in an untenable position. For years the council majority has resisted efforts by local homeless people to establish "Safe Ground," a legal place in the city where the homeless can spend the night. To allow protesters to do what the city's homeless may not is not only hypocritical, it begs the question: Why can't the homeless have a special use permit, too?

Councilman Steve Cohn says he might favor letting a few protesters stay, so they wouldn't have to set up their computers afresh every day. But if the city grants Occupy Sacramento special consideration, is it then obliged to provide the same for demonstrators with a less palatable message – say, a contingent of neo-Nazis or anti-gay demonstrators?

While any large gathering in the city, a bike race or a protest, requires increased police presence, the decision of occupiers to deliberately break the law has upped the hassle factor and the cost. So far, police have made 58 arrests, devoted 250 to 300 hours and spent more than $13,000 on additional overtime. Officers have been pulled from their regular duties, patrolling downtown and midtown, to monitor protesters

To the credit of all involved – the police have been professional and the protesters cooperative – no violence has marred Occupy Sacramento. Protesters have even chanted "thank you" to police as their colleagues who refused to disperse and offered themselves up for arrest were taken away.

However, sympathy for the message and admiration for the way protesters have conducted themselves should not lead the council to give up city parks to this group of protesters. Or any other.

© Copyright The Sacramento Bee. All rights reserved.