Not at all surprised that Earl Brechlin wants to move Public Comments to the end of the meeting and to prejudicially censor the public's comments. Brechlin has an anti democratic bent which he indulges under the guise of civility. He has quoted G.W.Bush's comment that 'the opposite of civility is chaos' to condemn all sorts of things he doesn't like. Brechlin ignores that while Bush may have been mannerly, his executive administrative decisions - such as basing the invasion of Iraq on lies and magical thinking - lead to deadly military and civic chaos. The opposite of what Bush and Brechlin mean by civility - ie smiley face congeniality in public and behind the scenes rule by in-group prejudice - is candor. Which is what Public Comments should be. And what the council needs more of.
Nor am I surprised that some on the council bristle at having to spend 3 minutes now and then listening to the same concerns. This is a situation of the councilors' making. If they choose to stonewall, denigrate, dismiss and ignore Public Comments - to stifle public participation and calls for government transparency - then it's actually giving councilors the benefit of the doubt to keep 'knocking on the door' in hopes that they will do more than stick their fingers in their ears and stick out their tongues.
Not at all surprised that Earl Brechlin wants to move Public Comments to the end of the meeting and to prejudicially censor the public's comments. Brechlin has an anti democratic bent which he indulges under the guise of civility. He has quoted G.W.Bush's comment that 'the opposite of civility is chaos' to condemn all sorts of things he doesn't like. Brechlin ignores that while Bush may have been mannerly, his executive administrative decisions - such as basing the invasion of Iraq on lies and magical thinking - lead to deadly military and civic chaos. The opposite of what Bush and Brechlin mean by civility - ie smiley face congeniality in public and behind the scenes rule by in-group prejudice - is candor. Which is what Public Comments should be. And what the council needs more of.
Nor am I surprised that some on the council bristle at having to spend 3 minutes now and then listening to the same concerns. This is a situation of the councilors' making. If they choose to stonewall, denigrate, dismiss and ignore Public Comments - to stifle public participation and calls for government transparency - then it's actually giving councilors the benefit of the doubt to keep 'knocking on the door' in hopes that they will do more than stick their fingers in their ears and stick out their tongues.