As Media Matters noted, the Mount Vernon City Council is none too happy about Mayor Bud Norris' decision to hand over the key to the city in a $25 per head sold-out event on Saturday. In a contentious city hall meeting last night, the city council unanimously approved a resolution stating: “Mount Vernon City Council is in no way sponsoring the Mayor's event on September 26, 2009 and is not connected to the Glenn Beck event in any manner.”

That's some welcoming for the Mount Vernon native.

Beck will also be greeted by a throng of protesters. According to local media reports, a 275-page-long petition with almost 16,000 signatures was to be delivered to the city council meeting last night.

The petition reads:

Dear Mount Vernon City Council,

We do not believe the city of Mount Vernon should honor Glenn Beck's fear mongering, racebaiting, inflammatory and dishonest approach to politics. Our country is better than this.

Please take action to overrule Mayor Norris's decision to give Glenn Beck the key to the city. It disgraces Mount Vernon, Washington State, and our country to honor a national poster child for intolerance, racism, and radical right-wing fringe politics.

Early reports indicated that no members of the press except for one local reporter would be allowed to cover the event. It turns out there was some confusion, according to GoSkagit.com, the website of the Skagit Valley Herald in Mount Vernon:

Robert Shelton, a long-time friend of Beck who was handling press credentials, said that he misunderstood information provided to him from a Beck representative to mean that media would be barred from the event.

“The confusion was (Beck's representatives) were saying we are not issuing any passes, and we took that to mean we don't want any passes issued,” Shelton said.

“What they were saying is they did not have the credentials to issue because it is not them (organizing the event),” Shelton said.

However, GoSkagit.com added: “Mount Vernon Mayor Bud Norris has since announced that five members of the media will be admitted to the Glenn Beck event.”

Five?

That sounds like rationing. Or the media practices of the Politburo.

We can only expect the rest of the media will take up with the protesters outside.

Meanwhile, mayor Dan Pike of nearby Bellingham -- where Glenn Beck attended high school -- has offered Jon Stewart the key to the city and an online petition urging Stewart to accept the key to the city offered by Bellingham Mayor Dan Pike has 650 signatures as of this afternoon. We can only imagine his reception will be just slightly more comical.