The Mad Baumer is at it again…
From the Longmont Times-Call:
Publish Date: 1/25/2010
Mayor wants to trim length of public speaking at meetings
By Tony Kindelspire
© 2010 Longmont Times-Call
LONGMONT — Mayor Bryan Baum wants to limit the amount of time the public is allowed to address the City Council at the beginning of council meetings.
Frustrated by last Tuesday night’s first “public invited to be heard” segment of the council meeting, which featured about 30 speakers and lasted for about 90 minutes, Baum said that sitting through that amount of time before the council even gets to its first agenda item is hurting the council’s productivity.
“Honestly, I get tired by the end of it, and when we do the city’s business, we need to be sharp,” said Baum. “I think the business of the council and the city has to be paramount.”
This was one of several procedural changes Baum suggested to fellow council members at the conclusion of its two-day retreat late Saturday afternoon.
He said he would like to see the first segment the public is invited to be heard — there’s a second at the conclusion of every regular session meeting — to be limited to no more than 30 minutes. Speakers already are limited to three minutes each.
But some council members expressed concern about people wanting to address council being shut out
“The price tag of a transparent society is we have to let everybody speak,” said councilman Sean McCoy. “There’s going to be an equity issue.”
Councilman Brian Hansen said that some people have families or other commitments that would preclude them from sitting through an entire meeting if they miss out on the first public invited to be heard. He also noted that 90-minute public-invited-to-heard segments are “pretty rare,” and said that even though it does make for long meetings, it was important to hear from all residents who want to speak.
“We all signed up for that,” Hansen said.
Read the rest at the Times-Call
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Here’s some of the comments so far at the TC:
“We all signed up for that,” Hansen said. Mr. Hansen this includes answering emails from the people in your ward. You should try it some time.
FB, longmont, CO, 1/25/2010 8:36 AM
Sorry Mayor Baum, can’t side with you on this. The public should be heard when it comes to city matters. However, I do feel that if people go off topic or it is not city related, they should have the microphone turned off. Biggest offender is Strider Benson. He goes on and on about stuff that has nothing to do with Longmont. It should be public invited to be heard about Longmont, not ramblings of a bored person.
FB, longmont, CO, 1/25/2010 8:33 AM
As an elected official by the people of Longmont, I’m disappointed in Mayor Baum that he thinks it’s ridiculous to hear the same thing over and over again. If the same things are being brought up, then the subject must be a priority for the people. You work for the people Mr. Baum and you knew before running what was involved with being an elected offical. Mr. Baum’s arrogance shines through with that statement.
syn, Longmont, CO, 1/25/2010 8:15 AM
I suggest that they compromise and make it a one-hour period for public speaking, The CC must remember that they work for us and need to hear what citizens have to say. I voted for Baum, but he needs to keep his perspective. If it’s that boring, he can keep his coffee cup filled.
MichaelG, Longmont, Colorado, 1/25/2010 7:22 AM
I always love the suggestion to look at what other communities do, as if Longmont cannot or should not be a leader on a particular issue. If we lead, perhaps other communities would compare themselves to us. But by copying what other communities do, we simply achieve universal creeping mediocrity. Everybody is looking at everybody else, because so many of the people in municipal governments are mere survivalists and average thinkers who need something external to justify their decisions.
Chris Colelli, Longmont, CO, 1/25/2010 7:17 AM
Well, that makes sense. From what I’m hearing the Mayor isn’t very interested in what the public has to say. How dare they eat up his time? Of course, never mind that listening to citizens is “the city’s business”.
Buffalogal, Longmont, CO, 1/25/2010 6:31 AM
Gotta love this approach to Democracy…
Photo courtesy of Tumblr
If he doesn’t want to listen to the people, why did he run for mayor? The city’s business is the welfare of the people. I wonder what he thinks the city’s business might be? This is a first amendment issue. I saw the mayor swear to uphold the constitution. Maybe he should read it.
james
He probably got tired of boar hunts. Not much fun when they pre-hamstring the animals for you. Unfortunately he can’t get the same treatment for the citizens, so it’s probably making him a bit cranky. Poor fella. Probably not at -all- like college… the frat was likely a lot more fun.
This is not “partisan” or “progressives” and “left winger” groups trying to harass the new council, stop productivity of the council, or be disruptive. There just ARE a lot of citizens who are concerned about this city. Mayor Baum needs to hear from each and every citizen that is willing to speak. If there happens to be more than one person that has a similar view, Baum need not get hot headed and rude. Wow, and his term has only just begun…..
Has anyone commenting actually reviewed the the council meeting minutes to see who is actually speaking at PITBH? Is it a lot of citizens who have something that concerns them or is it a handful of the same actors showing up meeting after meeting?
Mimi, it makes no difference. I have attended nearly all of the council meetings for over two years. Some people speak regularly. These are the people who care most deeply about what happens in their town and want to assure that Longmont moves forward in the right direction. Others come to speak because there is a specific issue that arouses their passion. In both cases, the citizens of Longmont deserve to be heard. It is the mayor’s and the council’s job to listen.
This goes to FB, & all. I, and perhaps others as well, do NOT believe the Constitutional foundation of our country to be irrelevant to the doings in Longmont. Nor did I think that 45 years ago when I stood for the rights of American citizens to vote, even if some people did not appreciate the hue of their skin. If this person also thinks the economy of this country, and whether or not people who actually WORK for a living should receive the pay they earn, or whether local businesses should have some rights via-a-vis the Wal Marts of the world, “has nothing to do with Longmont,” perhaps he should move to a place where such matters are totally ignored by officials who get bored with the public’s business. I rather think these ARE matters of public concern, and will continue to say so.
Perhaps, after objecting to my comments for 5 years, FB ought to be able to learn my name by now.
Strider