About 12 John Lennon Society members protested the city’s loitering law Friday by marching from the Martin Luther King Memorial Commons to a downtown DeKalb bank where they joined several people at 1 p.m. for a sidewalk picnic.

Dressed in army fatigues, bandanas and leather jackets, members circulated around the planter outside of the Home Federal Savings and Loan of Elgin, 309 E. Lincoln Hwy. They carried signs saying “I’m not idle, I’m growing my hair” and chanted “Good jobs, good pay, homelessness will go away.”

The JLS selected the savings and loan site for its protest because 4th Ward Alderman Rita Tewksbury, who proposed strengthening a city ordinance about offenses against public peace, safety and morals, works there as an assistant vice president. The savings and loan was open Friday despite the Veterans’ Day holiday. Tewksbury, however, was out of town.

On Oct. 24, the DeKalb City Council updated the ordinance because parts were unconstitutional and unenforceable, DeKalb City Attorney Ron Matekaitis said.

The amended ordinance does not pertain to vagrants, Matekaitis said. The section about vagrants was deleted because the courts have ruled police cannot arrest people just because they do not have jobs, Matekaitis said.

“The previous ordinance was unconstitutional and unenforceable on its face,” Matekaitis said. “It was a disservice to have it on the books. There is no point in having a law on the books you cannot enforce.”

JLS members said the council action violates people’s rights and contributes to increased arrests and harassment of the homeless.

JLS member Julie Stege said the group opposes the stricter provisions of the ordinance that enable police to arrest people who vomit or urinate in a public place.

“Some people don’t like to see people vomiting. Others don’t like to see people in fur coats,” Stege said.

Matekaitis said, the amended ordinance is aimed at preventing certain types of behavior regardless of whether people have jobs. It prohibits certain types of behavior to protect the public, such as carrying an open container of alcohol, accosting people and urinating and vomiting in public.

During the demonstration/picnic, the JLS and about three members of Public Action to Deliver Shelter, DeKalb’s shelter for the homeless, stood on the sidewalk outside the west end of the savings and loan, where they spread a picnic lunch of hot dogs, grilled cheese sandwiches, donuts and coffee on a cement planter. People ate lunch while JLS member Marna Coldwater played the guitar. Members handed out fliers protesting the ordinance to pedestrians.

Members also called for public toilets and chanted, “Two, four, six, eight, public place to urinate.” One demonstrator held up a sign saying, “Ahem, there doesn’t seem to be a public toilet, so can I pee here.”

DeKalb Police Officer Sgt. Don Berke stood on the streetcorner facing the bank, watching the group during most of its two-hour stay. Inside the bank, another police officer was posted with a walkie-talkie. A police squad car was in the vicinity during part of the demonstration. No arrests were made.

Berke said DeKalb police help needy people. “I’ve passed out several all-night passes and passes for meals for people with no place to stay,” Berke said. “We want to do what we can to help the homeless. We’ve even had people stay in our lobby.”

Matekaitis said the amended ordinance “does not mean a person sitting on a park bench will be arrested,” but rather, a person lying on the sidewalk obstructing pedestrian traffic will be arrested.

JLS member Jim Fabris asked, “Who is to say what’s ‘loafing’?”

Stege said, “Who is walking around aimlessly? It’s the wording (of the ordinance’s amendments).”

Matekaitis said if people want to help the homeless, they should work at the shelter or raise money for it.

Several JLS members volunteer to work at PADS. However, no fundraiser has been held for the homeless this year, JLS member Tom Rogers said.

Officials at the Home Federal Savings and Loan of Elgin declined to comment about whether the JLS demonstration outside the bank interrupted business.