RTP-area local music and culture

[James Hepler <jameshepler AT yahoo.com>]

LTTE:

It's amazing.  These councilfolk speak as if there
weren't sixty of us at the meeting. 

We were tired, too.  We had been sitting, sometimes
standing there just as long as they had.  And their
chairs were a heck of a lot more comfortable looking
than ours.  So comfortable in fact that councilman
Brown looked like he could have taken a nap right
there.  But we were there because we care about this
issue, and we would have sat there another hour to get
our chance to speak.  We deserved a chance.

Catotti speaks of a "creative solution" that escaped
her at the time.  Here's one.  Let the people who
filled out cards speak.  Take one for the team.  Be
willing to stay up until 3AM if that's what's called
for.  Is that so much to ask of our elected officials?
 We weren't asking them to make any sacrifice of their
time and energy that we weren't also willing to make.

Later in the meeting, Bell backtracked, saying, "We're
used to staying up this late."  They're going to have
to work harder than that to regain our trust and
respect.  As I told Ms. Catotti, we knew that the
proposal would pass.  All we wanted was the chance to
enter our objections into the record.  They denied
that opportunity to all but four of us.

I appreciate that some members of the council have
expressed that they would do things differently if
given the chance.  However, I'm afraid it's too late. 
Their actions symbolized this issue.  Bad decision
making.  Closed process.  Concerns of the public not
entertained until after the decision is made.  

We eagerly await these public forums we've heard
about.  We will be there.  We look forward to seeing
every member of the council in attendance as well.

Hep


        
                
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