EDITORIAL
When I was first elected to city council, an old local government veteran told me that public comment was very important.
“The only problem with public comment,” he said, “is that once a person made their comment they expected you to agree with them and do what they said.”
I have learned that the opposite is also true.
City council members, county commissioners, indeed anyone serving on a public board, may fall prey to the belief that once they correct the public about a particular issue, the public will change their minds.
Recently, the level of civility at our public meetings has declined. Accusations have been launched back and forth from all directions about the motives, intentions and representation provided by our neighbors who lead our city and county government.
That can be upsetting. I have been on the receiving end of some of that myself. It is only human to want to lash out at your perceived attackers. This is especially true when a topic is controversial, and one or both sides believe they are not being heard.
Occasionally, an elected official in this situation will lash out at his or her critics from the dais. I have seen this happen at school board meetings, commissioners court, and city council.
In part this tendency arises because elected officials, and the public, may misunderstand the purpose of public comment.
The Public’s Right to Comment
Public comment is not a debate over policy. The debate over policy takes place among the elected representatives.
Preferably, this is after the board has heard the public comment, not before.
Public comment is also not a conversation between the citizens and the local government. It is the public’s comment time. It does not belong to, nor should it be co-opted by council members.
The council members are in a position of authority. This is symbolized by their sitting on the dais above everyone else. This is not by accident. It is by design.
Most people who appear before their local government to speak are usually speaking on one topic that is of great concern to them.
In my time on city council, the fewest public comments were always at budget time, arguably the most important duty of the council.
County commissioners and school board trustees are forced to deal with the latest hot topic while also setting a budget, and confronting multiple, complex problems in the community as a whole, not just one issue of concern or controversy.
The water and sewer system still need upgrades, the streets need repaving, and we still need more money for police and fire. This what worries our elected officials.
The council, the commissioners, and the trustees have the power and authority over these decisions. The right the public holds is to comment, to make their opinions known, and to apply pressure to seek change, including through recalls and elections.
Imbalance of Power
Because of this imbalance of power and influence, lectures from the dais to the public by elected officials are highly inappropriate.
They only inflame tensions, do not contribute anything constructive to public discourse and are not helpful. Council members should not be arguing with public commenters.
It is the public’s right to comment in the few minutes they are allotted. Local government’s job is to receive the input; the good, the bad or the ugly, and add that information into their considerations, to make the best decision they can.
We do not elect local officials to tell us why our opinions, beliefs or positions are wrong, or to make veiled threats of possible retaliation.
This problem has become more pronounced in recent years, culminating in the recent disputes over data centers and recall elections. Perhaps it is just a sign of the times. We are living in an angry political age.
The first thing that can be done to break this cycle is for our elected officials to start acting like the grown ups in the room and not use the dais as a bully pulpit to berate and strike back at the people who disagree with them. That is just plain abuse of power.
