PB: Your Voice Can Still Be Heard -- GREAT JOB!

Jul 19, 2013

I wanted to wait for the Transparent Local Government group to upload the video of the City Council meeting so you could enjoy the dialog yourself. The discussion starts at the 1 hour and 11 minute mark on the video.

Thanks to the three citizens (Chester Pumphrey, Greg West and Jack Rushin) for their challenge of the new bill. For those that want the cliffnotes version here you go:

  • The bill was going to limit how much time the citizens could speak without being on the agenda from 10 minutes down to 3 minutes.
  • Mr. Pumphrey informed the council that the current ordinance gave the mayor the ability to limit the speakers to 10 minutes which is the de facto standard.
  • Mr. West said that he couldn’t figure out why they were trying to fix something that wasn’t broken. He also shared that the average citizen input over the past four meetings was only 7.5 minutes.
  • Mr. Rushin said that he felt that the 3 minute limit was not enough for a person to get their point across.
  • Doug Babgy explained why the bill was necessary (at 1:27:20 on video): because Brian Becker grabbed the podium and turned it around and spoke to the people rather than the council. By the way, two other times Doug Bagby has mentioned me in relation to this bill…that’s why my friends started calling this the “Shut-Becker-Up Bill.” — Thanks for the shout-out Doug.
  • Councilwoman Pearson said she’s had very many people contact her about the bill
  • Councilwoman McVey said no one had spoken to her about the bill — go figure.
  • Councilman Brannum successfully amended the bill to give an individual 10 minutes and any group 30 minutes.
  • Councilwoman McVey then complained that she might have to sit there for two hours if there were four groups
  • The Council voted down the bill 7-0
  • GREAT JOB!!!!!!

I’m so grateful for the citizens who spoke up publicly at the meeting on Monday, but also the many who contacted your councilperson and voiced your opinion. This is a great country and you preserved our rights by your actions.

  1. Jeannine Stoll

    I don’t believe Councilwoman McVey is on the council to listen to the people. She is openly a part of the good old boy system…. She is a nurse who fights to preserve smoking in public places even though she knows how destructive second hand smoke is to others. Could that be because Bagby is a big smoker who loudly defends the rights of smokers? If approached in public about an issue, she is rude and arrogant…. We need to clean house, and it appears that Angela Pearson has a good start at doing just that! GO ANGELA! I am also puzzled at how the long term members could think the public will believe they were ignorant of any action taken by Bagby as City Manager???

  2. billy

    Councilwoman McVey then complained that she might have to sit there for two hours if there were four groups,….. what is the job description of an elected community representative if not to listen to the people? to me, the comment she made as its printed, implies she has no concern about the peoples issues, but would rather just hurry up and get out the door. the job of councilperson is much more than something to attach to a resume.