Macungie Council Continues to Discourage Public Comment
Council President Jean Nagle is considering permanently moving the public comment component of council meetings to the end of the meeting.
Macungie Council began its Sept. 4 meeting with more contention regarding the public comment component that normally begins the meeting.
If there are several comments to be expressed, this portion of the meeting can sometimes take an hour or more before council can begin the business at hand.
This is the time of the meeting when Macungie residents and business owners are afforded the opportunity to speak on non-agenda items, which means they can speak about a range of concerns.
For the Aug. 20 meeting, as well, public comment was moved to the end of the meeting by council Vice President Greg Hutchison because Nagle was on vacation.
There was an uproar as residents alleged the democratic process was being stifled. Others said it was not a bad idea and that it might allow council business to be conducted in a more timely manner.
The Aug. 20 meeting, however, was ultimately cancelled due to a lack of a quorum, and at the time, Borough Manager Chris Boehm said the move was not necessarily permanent.
And it still may not be.
At the Sept. 4 meeting, council members Christopher Becker, Joseph Sikorski and Debra Cope strongly voiced their opposition to moving public comment to the end of the meeting.
Do you feel that the public should be allowed to speak at the beginning of the meeting? Or should council be allowed to conduct its business first? Tell us in the comments.
Cope reminded Nagle that council voted in earlier in the year to adopt the order of the meeting components.
Specific rules were adopted for public comment:
"Public comments from the audience will be heard at the beginning of the Council meeting....Comments will be at the courtesy of the floor, limited to five (5) minutes or less. Public comments my be heard during an agenda item after Council's discussion and prior to a decision being made...."
Nagle then reminded Cope of the very last line of the 2012-2013 meeting guidelines:
"The president reserves the right to modify the order of the meeting."
By the time council reached the public comment component of the Sept. 4 meeting it was about 10 p.m. Several people had filtered out of the Macungie Institute meeting room by then.
Two people spoke.
In its entirety, public comment that usually takes about an hour lasted two minutes.
Robert Sentner
8:41 am on Wednesday, September 5, 2012
election time can't come quick enough......The people that the Queen is trying to silence will be the same people that watch her fly off on her broom the day after the election. She forgets that she is there to serve the people, ALL the people not just the ones she chooses to serve. So un American
Ron Beitler
9:29 am on Wednesday, September 5, 2012
They should abide by their meeting guidelines. I'm sure the intent of including the discretion of the chair to modify the agenda wasn't to move public comment permanently to the rear the of the meeting. This tool should be to facilitate public comment. For ex. if a group of citizens are clearly present to comment/weigh in on one particular item, the president should move that item UP in the agenda as a courtesy to accomodate public input.
Just Say It
10:12 am on Wednesday, September 5, 2012
Mr. Beitler,
I agree with you and I think that's the point Ms. Cope was trying to make when she was referencing moving an agenda item up because there may be someone there with attorney representation, for example, Ms. Nagle had done that recently when Atty. Young was there representing a couple regarding vacating a street.
ron
10:51 am on Wednesday, September 5, 2012
Exactly Ron, the intent of giving the president the right to modify the order of the meeting was hopefully meant to make it easy for council to serve the public and to let people be heard. Insted we have Nagle abusing this power to suppress the citizens voices and keep them out of the process of government. Nagle is a poor excuse of a public servant.
Robert Sentner
9:43 am on Wednesday, September 5, 2012
yeah ok Ron, you have been to Macungie council meetings. Its all about hoping there is no one there after one of there 2 hour executive sessions. Poor government for such a great community.
John Rogers
10:38 am on Wednesday, September 5, 2012
Certain council members (and the mayor) simply do not want to hear criticism or be called out on their back room antics. Nagle's power play in twisting the rules is a perfect example. As well as, "Look at me. I'm in charge." And I also, for a change, agree with Mr. Beitler. That is exactly why that discretion was included. Exceptional circumstances. Not, lets put it at the end so everybody leaves before we get to it. But elections can be a wonderful thing and there is one coming up very quickly (although not quickly enough). Karma can also be a wonderful thing.
ron
11:38 am on Wednesday, September 5, 2012
True the elections for council and mayor are coming up next year. But last election we got Walker whom was charged with various crimes and Hutchison whom just walks out if he does not like what he hears. The election before that we got Hoffman whom has wasted thousands of tax payers dollors. So i guess the question is how low do we have to go before the people care enough to vote for someone that really wants to serve them and cares about the community.
John Rogers
6:21 pm on Wednesday, September 5, 2012
You are absolutely right Ron. If all the nonsense the past few years doesn't finally trigger the citizens of Macungie to wake up and get involved in the government that runs their community, then it is time to give up. If we do not field viable candidates in this next election, then we deserve this type of government and have no one to blame but ourselves.
get real
12:07 am on Sunday, September 9, 2012
Council president Nagle and vice president Hutchison are both anti public. Anyone who has attended several council meetings knows there are many examples of their anti public antics. Remember when Hutchison said he's not going to listen to this crap, in reference to listening to citizen input. The majority of council should vote to replace the current leadership. This would show Nagle, Hutchison, and the public that the majority will not tolerate this type of government any longer, and that they realize they work for the public who elected them to office.
Responsible Citizen
3:13 pm on Monday, September 17, 2012
The problem is.....Naugle and Hutchison are not the ONLY council members who obstruct fairness in the community!