The First Amendment can be expressed in countless ways, such as painting a crosswalk.

Aric Sleeper here, thinking about the upcoming 250th birthday of the United States of America and one of the most important protections guaranteed to its citizens: the Freedom of Speech, and of course, my personal favorite, the Freedom of the Press, enshrined in the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. 

There are almost limitless ways to express one’s feelings, aside from just saying them out loud, whether it's with music, dance, art or say painting a crosswalk in unconventional colors to show support for an idea, individual or group, like the crosswalk at Pearl and Alvarado streets in Monterey, adorned in rainbow colors to to show support for the LGBTQ+ community.

Roughly a year after the painting of the Downtown Monterey crosswalk, which was funded by Monterey Peninsula Pride, another colorful crosswalk has been proposed by Monterey City Councilmember Ed Smith, who, in 2025, when the City Council voted to approve the symbolic gesture, cast the one dissenting vote.

“I just feel that crosswalks shouldn’t be for sale for public art,” Smith said in the June 4, 2025 meeting. “I think there’s lots of places for public art. I just disagree that it’s in the crosswalk, which is designed for safety.”

Smith changed his mind about the topic, however, after discussing it with numerous unnamed community members, as he described at the council meeting on June 16, leading to the formation of a group called “Friends of Alvarado Street.” The group has 32 members, according to Smith, albeit unidentified, who have gathered the $3,800 to paint the crosswalk at Alvarado Street and Del Monte Avenue in red, white and blue, and ultimately remove the paint at an undetermined time, not to exceed one year.

“It started with having a conversation with some folks that I have coffee with frequently at Plumes,” Smith said at the June 16 meeting, describing the people that inspired the patriotic crosswalk idea. “And then it was another group at Starbucks and another group at East Village Coffee and a few drop-by’s at my office, so just a bunch of people who are community members and business members.” 

Although the mysterious group of local coffee-loving patriots are footing the bill for the crosswalk, bringing the item to council does bring the cost of time and energy of city staff and the council and community members. During the meeting, City Manager Dante Hall, who has been putting substantial effort into balancing the city’s upcoming 2026-2027 fiscal year budget, alongside city staff, said that the painting of the patriotic crosswalk is “not practical.” 

However impractical, the painting of the crosswalk in red, white and blue to celebrate the nation’s 250th anniversary, alongside the city’s Fourth of July parade, will move forward, as the council approved the action in a unanimous vote.