City Council votes to deny public speaker (Quincy,Illinois council vs. Tea Party Organizer)

Quincy News ^ | May 5, 2009 | Bob Gough,

[Stoat]

 

 

City Council votes to deny public speaker

by Bob Gough, editor, QuincyNews.org

Along a party line vote, the Quincy City Council denied a written request to speak by a taxpaying resident of the city.

Steve McQueen, one of the organizers of the Quincy Tea Party effort, requested to speak on the recently approved $31.2 million budget and water and sewer rate increases.

When it came time to vote to open the floor to allow the speaker, a mixed voice vote took place. A roll call vote ensued and the seven Democrats denied McQueen's opportunity to speak while six Republicans voted to allow him to speak.

Alderman Mike Rein (R-5th Ward) was absent.

Alderman Mike Farha (R-4th Ward) said he had never seen anyone denied the right to speak in his 10 years on the council and called the vote "outrageous."

Farha spoke up after the vote, saying "We have never not allowed a member of the public to address this party."

Alderman Steve Duesterhaus (D-2nd Ward) countered by saying "A point of order here. This is an incidental motion and is not subject to debate." Mayor John Spring agreed and Farha finished with "I just want my objection noted for the record."

Duesterhaus (D-2nd Ward) said there had been ample opportunity to comment on the budget and the water and sewer increases before last week's votes had taken place.

"We had a public hearing on the budget," Duesterhaus said. "We had an unofficial hearing on the budget where the department heads talked about the budget. It had three readings at three meetings. We had three readings on the water and sewer rates. Anybody could have commented on them. They passed and now we're looking forward, not looking back."

McQueen was "dumbfounded."

"Freedom of speech was not the issue I came to talk about, but it is the issue I left with," he said. "I cannot believe what took place here tonight. This solidifies my beliefs."

Before the meeting, Mayor John Spring was sworn in along with four aldermen who were re-elected on April 7 and the two newly elected aldermen, Kyle Moore (R-3rd Ward) and Dan Brink (R-6th Ward).

In other action, Aldermen approved:

*A two-year contract for the Quincy Police Department to use of STARCOM 21 radios to communicate with the Illinois State Police.

*$405,577.35 on replacement water meters from Badger Meter Company of Milwaukee, Wis.

*$6,013.53 to the Illinois EPA for mandatory testing under the Safe Drinking Water Act.

*$5,625 for QPD firearms training through PASA Park Inc.  

*$5,700 for police training with West Central Illinois Criminal Justice Council

[Stoat]

Farha spoke up after the vote, saying "We have never not allowed a member of the public to address this party."

This City Council has apparently never witnessed the strength and power of the Common Man as manifested in the Tea Party phenomenon before, either.

[Steve Van Doorn]

"testing under the Safe Drinking Water Act"

they didn't want to hear from anyone that wants unsafe drinking water.

this may sound like a joke but libs operate from feelings rather then rationality.

[CzarNicky]

Fist they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win.

they have stopped laughing.

[ArmstedFragg]

It’s a little hard to extrapolate from the reporting exactly what took place, but it appears that the guy wanted to speak on an issue that had been decided the prior week. If the meeting had been in California, depending on what the actual agenda item was, he could have been denied the opportunity to speak at that point, but they’d still have had to hear him during the ‘public comment’ portion of the meeting. Sounds like Illinois could use an open meeting law like California’s Brown Act.

Just as an aside, the Brown Act has one of the best articulations of the proper relationship between elected officials and their employers ever written.

“In enacting this chapter, the Legislature finds and declares that the public commissions, boards and councils and the other public agencies in this State exist to aid in the conduct of the people’s business. It is the intent of the law that their actions be taken openly and that their deliberations be conducted openly.

The people of this State do not yield their sovereignty to the agencies which serve them. The people, in delegating authority, do not give their public servants the right to decide what is good for the people to know and what is not good for them to know. The people insist on remaining informed so that they may retain control over the instruments they have created.”

[Venturer]

I have found that in most public meetings with Commissioners or Town Councils , the decisions have already been made and the discussion with the public phase is merely a tactic used to make the public think they matter.

[NTHockey]

Does anyone doubt that we have no freedoms anymore?

Among Thomas Jefferson’s many sayings, I find these most apt for our times”
“All tyranny needs to gain a foothold is for people of good conscience to remain silent.”

“The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants.”

“When the people fear their government, there is tyranny; when the government fears the people, there is liberty.”

[sergeantdave]

ArstedFragg -

You bring up an excellent point in this: “Sounds like Illinois could use an open meeting law like California’s Brown Act.”

To the best of my knowledge every state has an open meting law, including Illinois. Allow me to expand on what this open meeting law does.

Venturer, you said: “the decisions have already been made and the discussion with the public phase is merely a tactic used to make the public think they matter.”

In all likelihood, the council is involved in illegal public meetings. Believe me, rats are always meeting illegally. Here’s what you can do:

In most states, you have the legal power, under your state’s open meeting law, to sue the council, board or commission. The open meeting law can be used to personally sue council members (strip them of their sovereign immunity), nullify ordinances, make the leftist rats pay all your legal expenses and even throw them in jail.

Open meetings is one of the legal tools that can be used to take back America from leftists, especially in your local neighborhood.

Make use of it. It’s fun, profitable and enjoyable watching leftists curl up like caterpillars under a hot magnifying glass.

[TheRealDBear]

If they had allowed him to speak, it might have been buried in the city council minutes. Way to go, Democrats! That worked out well, didn’t it?

[Tigercap]

Names, Pictures, phone numbers and email addresses for some here....

http://www.ci.quincy.il.us/Alderman/ward1.htm