OPINION
If you can't beat them, wait them out.
That's the new strategy of the Fernandina Beach City Commission who in the wee hours of the morning voted to relegate public comment from the beginning of its meetings to the very end of the agenda.
Two weeks ago, more than 40 people chose to speak about the upcoming Pride parade and festival. Last night, dozens showed up to speak about saving trees and neighborhoods.
Now, people will have to wait several hours to exercise their right to speak before their elected city commissioners.
In short, this puts a "chilling" effect on the very public these commissioners were elected to serve. People who attend meetings intending on sharing their opinions or concerns may be less likely to stay until the end if they feel their input will have little impact.
"It's impeding our business," Commissioner Darron Ayscue said in support of moving public comments.
"I think it's a great idea," chimed in Vice Mayor David Sturges.
This city commission is sending a loud and clear message that public input is an afterthought rather than a valuable contribution to their decision-making process.
As witnessed by Tuesday's 6-hour plus marathon, city commission meetings can be lengthy affairs, and by putting public comment at the end this will be particularly burdensome for people who have other commitments and responsibilities. It's called life and people have work, childcare, or personal engagements to deal with.
This move to diminish the voice of the voters has another impact. When public comments are made early in their meetings, the comments are more likely to be heard by all attendees in the commission meeting room, including the media and other interested parties. The early airing of issues by the public helps maintain government transparency and ensures that public concerns are given the proper consideration by commissioners and city staff. By pushing public comment to the end, this commission says it doesn't care if important perspectives and issues are overlooked and glossed over.
The motive behind this maneuver is obvious. This commission is stating it prioritizes its own agenda over the concerns of the Fernandina Beach community. We're five months into this regime and they're already eroding trust between the public and the city commission. What this commission has done is to create a disconnection between our elected officials and the people they serve.
So much for respect for the democratic process.
Can they be recalled?
A travesty - this bunch of unfaithful Toadies. First summary removal of competent City Management -with no vision of the future, except creating administrative chaos, then concerted silence when they should have led, now this -deliberate manipulation of the public access to information and opportunity to make meaningful input - that is heard and considered.
To quote.
"...As witnessed by Tuesday's 6-hour plus marathon, city commission meetings can be lengthy affairs, and by putting public comment at the end this will be particularly burdensome for people who have other commitments and responsibilities. It's called life and people have work, childcare, or personal engagements to deal with.
This move to diminish the voice of the voters has another impact. When public…
Our city commission is certainly hasn't been listening to the voice of the people. Now they've shown they aren't interested in hearing it at all.
What was the commissions reasoning for the change? Is there oath to serve , or to be served?
Four years and a new election cycle will not come quick enough.