Mr. Beitler,
I couldn't agree with you more. The CHAIR does need to control the meeting better. In my opinion its her lack of leadership that is allowing this to happen. I've been to meetings where she's lost control and looks to the solicitor to step in. Sometimes you would think she's his client and not there at the "pleasure" of council. Silencing the public to make her job easier isn't the answer. There's a handful of audience members that attend the meetings quite frequently. Justified or not, their outbursts , accusations, and disrespect towards council usually does set the tone of the meeting so I will agree with President Nagle on that point. However, these same individuals have brought valid concerns to the table. I was at the meeting and I think what Ms. Cope was trying to do was make it fair for everyone and trying not to base her decision on a handful of people. She also felt it should be council's decision to change the order of the meeting, not just one person. We're suppose to live in a democratic society, correct? Both her and Mr. Hutchison forget they serve at the pleasure of council. Because you don't like what a handful of people do or say you're going to penalize the entire community. Council should be encouraging public participation, not discouraging it. To place public comments to non-agenda items at the end is just wrong. Wait 3-4 hrs. to have 3 minutes to talk to council?? That's sending the wrong message.

@honesty - Agree 100% Moving comment to the end is sweeping problem under the rug not dealing with the problem. Control of the meeting is everything. By having control you are in fact facilitating public comment in a fair way without gray area and without question. These items need to happen:

1. Recognized comments address the CHAIR ONLY. No side discussions. President must enforce this. If another councilmember wants to respond to a comment he/she must be recognized by the chair and the timer is stopped until the resident is again RECOGNIZED and then time resumes until 5 is up. Cat calling from the gallery has got to stop. I've never ever seen anything like what happens at Macungie council. It literally makes people uncomfortable. I know this. I've talked to people won't go to these meetings cause of this.

2. 5 minutes. Period. End of story on non-agenda items. I support relaxation of public comments on AGENDA ITEMS to facilitate meaningful discussion. But 5 minutes is plenty of time for non-agenda. The whole point being... bringing issues to councils attention to get on the agenda for formal discussion at a later date. Then you can tear it apart and really get into it. Not a time to argue, not a time for personal attacks, it's not a question and answer session.

These are most basic rules enforced at every public meeting I've ever been to. The President must use her gavel. That is her role. There has to be order. It's the only way these things work.

Ron, why is it that it is ok for you to be so passionate when it comes to Main St revitalization but you have a problem with others being just as passionate about MPD and what they believe are other injustices brought about by some current and past council members?

The world according to Ron Beitler! Ron could you please post a list of what you feel are the relevant issues in Macungie so we can all fall in line and keep our discussion limited to just what you deem worthey, as it sounds like you feel passionate concerns of others are simply a waste of time that must be tolerated due to freedom of speech. As for your statement about this article being based on the "circus" , i did not read any reference to statements made by citizens in attendance. The article explained issues and conversations being discussed by council members. Yes the circus appears to have been under the big tent at the front of the room, not the spectators.

If you look around the room you will see residents and business owners who have been around much, much longer than 2-3 years. Just maybe, they know more about the internal "goings on" then you do. Just maybe, they have been putting up with the games for much, much longer. While I applaud your patiently waiting, maybe these people patiently waited for many, many years until they finally realized that patiently waiting was getting them nowhere.

Get Real....excellent points!!

Having "no interest in the internal goings on" is exactly the problem that I have been talking about. You either have an interest or you are apathetic. Having no interest is what brought the borough to this point. Too many people have no interest. They don't get involved. They don't go to meetings. They don't run for office. That is apathy and why unqualified people in MANY municipalities run for office and win!!!! So, with your 2 cents and my 2 cents we are up to 4 cents. Now if more people would add their 2 cents in the proper forums and we get to several dollars, then maybe, just maybe, good government could win out.

Mr Beitler...with all due respect you continue to be sooo off the mark!!

Ron, you apparently can't see the forest through the trees. If you are ignorant to, or unwilling to take on "the small town crap", then you will only talk the talk and never walk the walk. If we fix the cause of "the small time crap," just maybe good government can prevail.

The President definitely needs to control the meeting. When she doesnt it's when things break down. Question - What trouble has the owner of the lumber yard had? I thought the process has been pretty smooth considering it's probably one of the most complicated small scale development plans I've seen given lumber street relocation and multiple adjacent landowners.

Trust me I write about (and complain about!) development projects all the time. I'm definitely not afraid to criticize when warranted, but with Lumber Street I really do things went very smoothly and its working out great for the landowner and the community.