Out of order? Last night was the first City Council Meeting of the new year. As everyone know Council President Jeff Gahan was elected to a second term and Council Member Donnie Blevins was elected as Vice President.
The meeting got off to a rocky start when David Huckleberry got up to speak. President Gahan seemed to be upset with Mr. Huckleberry from the very beginning. This was unusual for the normally calm Mr. Gahan. He asked Mr. Huckleberry if he had been in contact with Mayor Garner, his Councilman, or any of the At Large Council Members.
This was a little confusing. Normally Mr. Gahan just lets the speakers say what they came to say after advising them to be polite and try to stay within a five minute time limit.
Mr. Huckleberry seemed confused also. He had never been asked in advance what his topic was, nor to our knowledge has any one else been asked about their topic for
discussion.
Freedom of Speech did not understand Mr. Gahan's demeanor last night. Maybe he was still upset with Mr. Huckleberry over the last meeting when the Mayor's actions were criticized. Mr. Garner had asked Mr. Huckleberry's mother to talk with her son about his complaints at the Council Meetings.
We here at Freedom of Speech were under the impression that the comments from the public portion of the Council Meetings were a forum where citizens could speak their minds. This does not mean that anyone should use foul language or make threats, of course. But the citizens have always been allowed to start speaking without interruption
once they were recognized at the podium.
We also believe that meetings should be conducted in an orderly manner. If any Council Member, especially the President, has a personal issue with any citizen this should be discussed privately. The banter at last night's meeting was unprofessional in our opinion.
We can only hope that Mr. Gahan and Mr. Huckleberry resolve their personal problems.
When a citizen is out of order, they are reprimanded by the Council President. Who reprimands the Council President when his actions
