SMITHFIELD - Town Manager Eric Williams last week admitted mistakes in the town's handling of a Sept. 11 rally that was shut down by police.

"It's clear to me our process unintentionally contributes to this confusion," Williams told the Town Council. "I can assure you we won't make this [mistake] again."

Police shut down the rally because organizer Birmah Stemler did not have a permit to use amplified sound in front of the courthouse.

Stemler said she learned in July that fellow rally organizers planned to use a public address system. She said she then asked Town Planner Paul Embler to put that request on the Town Council's Sept. 8 agenda.

Stemler said Embler told her the rally would not draw enough of a crowd to need a permit. But after the Sept. 8 meeting, Stemler said, Embler reversed course, saying she would need a council-approved permit. He then told her that she would have to reschedule the rally because the council would not meet again until October.

From now on, Williams said last week, rally permits will go through the Planning Department and then to his desk for review.

Embler was at last week's Town Council meeting but said nothing in response to Stemler's account of events. Stemler called on the Town Council to issue an apology through the media.

"I am convinced it was political discrimination," said Stemler, whose rally was supposed to be about proposed health-care reforms.

"It was uncalled-for," she said of the police response. "What ever happened to common sense and a sense of honor?"

Williams said any apology would come from him, not the Town Council. And he said he planned to submit new permit procedures to the council in November.

Williams said his investigation of the incident found no wrongdoing on the part of town staff. He did not directly apologize at the meeting but said he would be sending a written statement, including an apology, to Stemler and local media.

Stemler said she was pleased with Williams' response. "I'm thrilled to pieces about it," she said. "I think what he is doing as far as procedure sounds fine."

Stemler's event, Williams noted, was not the only one in which the permit process caused problems. Last month, the Town Council revoked a street-closing permit for a family reunion when it became apparent that the "family reunion" included sporting events, food vendors and an expected attendance of thousands.