{"id":4027,"date":"2013-06-12T17:19:42","date_gmt":"2013-06-12T21:19:42","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/blog\/?p=4027"},"modified":"2013-06-12T17:24:02","modified_gmt":"2013-06-12T21:24:02","slug":"a-few-citizens-to-be-heard-for-a-few-minutes-only-lcc-2013-06-11","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/blog\/2013\/06\/a-few-citizens-to-be-heard-for-a-few-minutes-only-lcc-2013-06-11.html","title":{"rendered":"A few Citizens to be heard for a few minutes only @ LCC 2013-06-11"},"content":{"rendered":"

\r\nOnly fifteen minutes on any topic, said Chairman Bill Slaughter,\r\neven though 8 people wanted to speak about trash\r\nat last night’s\r\n\r\nLowndes County Commission Regular Session<\/a>.\r\nBut there is no such rule in the county’s relevant ordinance.\r\n<\/p>\r\n

\r\n\r\n\"County<\/a>\r\nHe was enforcing an odd mashup of the county’s 25 January 2013 ordinance about\r\nCitizens Wishing to Be Heard.\r\nIt does have these two rules:\r\n

\r\n2. A maximum of 10 persons shall be allowed to speak at any meeting.\r\n
\r\n3. A maximum of three persons shall be allowed to speak on any one subject\r\n<\/blockquote>\r\n

\r\nBut it does not have any overall time limit for a topic.\r\nWhere did he get that rule?\r\nDid he just make it up on the spot?\r\nWhere is the record of a Commission vote on it?\r\n<\/p>\r\n

\r\nThis goes beyond former Chairman Ashley Paulk’s demonstration\r\n\r\n<\/a>\r\n\r\nat the very first meeting when they were adopted<\/a>\r\nthat the Chairman can set aside any or all of the rules in that ordinance.\r\nChairman Slaughter said a ninth speaker couldn’t speak because\r\nhe had turned in his form after the meeting started, even though\r\nChairman Slaughter has himself waived that rule in the past.\r\nBut this time Chairman Slaughter didn’t just enforce that rule\r\nand waive others, he made up a new rule that is not in the ordinance!\r\n<\/p>\r\n

\r\n<\/a>\r\nIs this\r\n\r\nthe “freedom” about which Commissioner Page prayed<\/a>?\r\nIs it even the “order” he mentioned, when the Chairman can make up\r\nrules on the spot as to how many and how long citizens can speak?\r\n<\/p>\r\n

\r\nThe relevant ordinance is no longer linked into the Commission’s\r\nfront page<\/a>,\r\nnor in the\r\n\r\nlist of (a very few) ordinances<\/a>,\r\nnor in the\r\n\r\nCounty Clerk’s page<\/a>.\r\nBut I found them under \r\nPublic Notice<\/a>.\r\nHere’s the\r\n\r\nsigned version<\/a>\r\nand here is\r\n\r\na usable PDF version<\/a>\r\nof the ordinance:\r\n

\r\n

\r\nLowndes County Board of Commissioners\r\n
\r\nPolicies and Procedures for Citizens Wishing to be Heard\r\n<\/H3>\r\n
    \r\n
  1. \r\nPersons wishing to speak at \u201cCitizens\r\nWishing to be Heard\u201d shall sign in\r\nwith the Clerk of the Board of Commissioners. The Clerk shall be available\r\nfor this purpose at least 10 minutes be\r\nfore the scheduled time at which the\r\nmeeting will begin. Each person signing in shall provide his or her name,\r\nhis or her mailing address, his or her daytime telephone number, whether he\r\nor she is a resident of the County, wh\r\nether he or she is a taxpayer of the\r\nCounty, the subject on which he or\r\nshe wishes to speak, and the action\r\nrequested of the Board of Commissioners, if any. The Clerk shall prepare\r\nand have available a form for the pur\r\npose of persons signing in to speak.\r\n
  2. \r\nA maximum of 10 persons shall be allowed to speak at any meeting.\r\n
  3. \r\nA maximum of three persons shall be allowed to speak on any one subject.\r\n
  4. \r\nPersons shall be allowed\r\nto speak on a first-come, first-served basis.\r\n
  5. \r\nPersons desiring to speak shall not\r\nspeak until recognized by the presiding\r\nmember of the Board of Commissioners.\r\n
  6. \r\nEach speaker\u2019s time to speak shall be limited to five minutes.\r\n
  7. \r\nCommissioners may in their discretion respond to a speaker at the\r\nconclusion of the speaker\u2019s presentation.\r\n
  8. \r\nThe Board of Commissioners shall\r\nnot vote on matters presented during\r\n\u201cCitizens Wishing to be Heard.\u201d\r\n
  9. \r\nWhen a speaker makes a request for specific action, the presiding member of\r\nthe Board of Commissioners may refer\r\nthe subject to the County Manager.\r\n
  10. \r\nTo speak to the Board of Commissioners during \u201cCitizens Wishing to be\r\nHeard\u201d, a person must be a resident\r\nor property taxpayer of Lowndes\r\nCounty.\r\n
  11. \r\nSpeakers shall direct their speech to the Board of Commissioners as a whole.\r\nSpeakers shall not direct their speech to\r\nindividual members of the Board of\r\nCommissioners or to individual employees of the Board of Commissioners\r\nor county officials. Speakers shall\r\nnot solicit comments or responses from\r\nthe Board of Commissioners or individual members of the Board of\r\nCommissioners.\r\n
  12. \r\nPersons speaking shall not make impertinent, derogatory, personal,\r\noffensive, or slanderous remarks.\r\n
  13. \r\nSubjects on which speakers may speak\r\nshall be limited to subjects\r\nconcerning the business of the Board of Commissioners.\r\n
  14. \r\nThe Board of Commissioners\r\nmay limit speech on subjects that the Board of\r\nCommissioners believes to be closed.\r\n
  15. \r\nIf a resident or taxpayer of the County desires to speak on a subject\r\nconcerning the business of the Board of\r\nCommissioners that the Board of\r\nCommissioners does not believe to be\r\nclosed and otherwise complies with\r\nthese Policies and Procedures, the Board of Commissioners shall not limit\r\nthe speaker\u2019s speech based on the view point of the speaker.\r\n
  16. \r\nThe presiding member of the Boar\r\nd of Commissioners shall ensure\r\ncompliance with these Policies and Procedures.\r\n
  17. \r\nAny failure to comply with these Policies and Procedures may be ruled out\r\nof order by the presiding member\r\nof the Board of Commissioners.\r\n
  18. \r\nIf any person attending a meeting of the Board of Commissioners fails to\r\ncomply with any of these Policies and Procedures, the presiding member of\r\nthe Board of Commissioners may take action to remove the person from the\r\nmeeting.\r\n<\/ol>\r\n

    \r\nAdopted January 25, 2011\r\n<\/p>\r\n<\/blockquote>\r\n

    \r\nHere’s\r\n\r\nthe video:<\/a>\r\n<\/p>\r\n

    \r\n