A park ranger made a mistake yesterday when he ordered people handing out leaflets and gathering signatures to leave Stephens Lake Park during the annual Art in the Park celebration, a city spokeswoman said this morning.

Tammy Miller, public information officer with the Columbia Parks and Recreation Department, said the park ranger was mistaken when he told activists Mark Haim and Mary Hussmann they needed special use permits to hand out information or gather signatures in a city-owned park.

"We don’t have any rules like that," Miller said. "It’s public property."

Haim, who is director of Mid-Missouri Peaceworks, said he was floored yesterday afternoon when the ranger asked him to stop distributing leaflets opposing the U.S. war in Iraq and asking for signatures on a petition to end the war. The Columbia Art League sponsors the annual weekend event, which attracts thousands of visitors.

Haim said he and Hussmann, a volunteer with Grass Roots Organization, were distributing materials near the parking lot on the west side of Stephens Lake Park, a good distance from the art event.

"Some of the Art League people came over and asked us to leave the park," Haim said. "They told me I couldn’t be in the park because they had the park rented. I said to them that I had the right to engage my fellow citizens in public discourse and that I wasn’t inside Art in the Park."

Eventually, a park ranger arrived and told Haim and Hussmann they would have to stop their activities or leave.

Haim was stunned by the explanation.

"I think we should have the right to hand out leaflets and gather signatures in public spaces," he said. "We need public space where people in a Democratic society can engage each other in public discourse. These are basic constitutional rights that are essential in a Democratic society."

Jill Stedham, executive director of the art league, could not be reached for comment.

For the first time, the weekend event was held at Stephens Lake Park, a 111-acre city-owned property at Old 63 and Broadway. The city purchased the land six years ago from Stephens College, whose downtown campus for years has been the site of the annual art celebration.

Haim said he has been handing out materials and gathering signatures at Art in the Park for at least five years and has never been asked to leave until this year.

A story Monday about petitioners asked by a city park ranger to leave the Art in the Park festival at Stephens Lake Park should have identified the League’s executive director as Jill Stedem.