Speak up

EDITORIAL

Yes, visitors can have their say at school board, city council meetings

One of the great cartoons of all time was published many years ago. It shows a man, late at night—a dark sky and stars visible through an open window behind him—seated at a computer. He is addressing someone not in the panel. The caption reads: “I can’t come to bed. Someone’s wrong on the Internet.” Realizing the futility of trying to correct any online meme, someone has definitely been wrong on social media recently regarding complaints about the public making itself heard at public meetings of our local entities. Specifically, feedback that you don’t have a chance to voice your opinions to them. The truth is that both the Rockdale ISD School Board and Rockdale City Council have well established, and similar, guidelines for addressing those governing bodies. They are utilized all the time, particularly at the council meetings. In fact last year there were a couple of verbal shootouts concerning an annexation plan which were literally nothing but comments from the floor. Here’s how it works:

• You sign up before the meeting begins and indicate the topic on which you wish to speak.

• Speakers are called upon, at the appropriate time, by the presiding officer.

• The speaker then gets no more than five minutes to be heard. Speakers need to remember a few things, and this may be part of the misunderstanding. You won’t engage in a back-and-forth dialogue with the presiding officer or indivual members and you won’t typically get an answer to your concern on the spot. Remember that boards, by law, cannot act on, or discuss, a topic which is not on an agenda. You may be asked clarifying questions, though. And the presiding officer might call on you, on anyone else from the public, during any part of the meeting. Of course it goes without saying speakers must be civil, not profane or abusive. And complaints about individual employees must be handled through a different procedure than showing up at a meeting and saying “Bubba there done me wrong.” There are grievance procedures which must be followed first. You may eventually get to have your say before the governing body, but those kinds of issues are handled in executive (closed) session. The bottom line. Yes, you can speak and no, it’s not difficult.—M.B.