Freedom
of Speech to be Silenced in NRH!
Freedom
of Speech to be Silenced in NRH!
by Ron West - 6/11/05
Attention: Supporters of the Incumbents in the Recent Election!
One of the primary issues of the challengers in the last election was open government. While this, as an issue, was rejected by a majority of the voters, you might want to consider the planned actions of your elected officials.
In a blatant effort to silence any vocal opposition to their decisions, policies and actions, the majority of the rubber stamp council is planning to enact a new "ordinance" (law) that prohibits even criticism of any elected official or city staff member. Under this new law, they will be able to do anything to anyone and will not allow you to even comment on it.
The proposed ordinance reads:
And in Section 3: the ordinance reads:
Proposed Ordinances for Your Viewing: PDF1 PDF2
Folks, regardless of your position in the last election and whoever you supported, this is a VERY BAD ORDINANCE! It basically tramples on the Constitution and indicates a complete disregard for citizen input of any kind - other than to rubber stamp the actions of the council and city staff. Please bear in mind that under this ordinance, the Mayor and majority of the council is basically deciding what you can say in public in our city.
Fortunately the city has no jurisdiction over the internet or they would certainly shut this website down. The Mayor has already commented that he "wishes he could do something about it" in a prior council meeting. Please remember that most citizens only come before the council when they have an issue of some kind with either decisions of the council or actions of the city staff. Under this new ordinance, this would or could be construed an attack or criticism and would not be permitted. In effect, this ordinance would only allow further grandstanding by the elected majority of the council.
Contrary to the language in this attempt to suppress free speech, the only thinly veiled attempt at television coverage during the citizens presentations would appear to be that of the Mayor during the election when he allowed 4 ten minute campaign speeches filled with political misinformation.
As far as correcting "misinformation" or "lies" this website has repeatedly offered to publish any corrections identified by the current incumbents or city staff regarding information on this website.
When misinformation published by the city or it's officials has been identified on this site such as the Mayor's deliberate attempt to mislead people by his letter to the Star Telegram, the city and the Mayor have not responded. They publish misleading information deliberately and then ignore any requests for documentation or support for such information.
The request for full accounting the huge SLUSH FUND is still unanswered.
The bottom line is that if the supporters of the incumbents remain silent or supportive of silencing criticism of the elected officials in our city and/or criticism of city staff, I believe we will see a city with "values" that no true American Citizen can really support. Imagine, our city is basically outlawing free speech!
The pre-meeting Monday 6/13 is public as is the council meeting - BUT - with existing council rules, they will probably not allow any public comment on this dictatorial effort to silence any opposition in the city. If you are concerned, call your favorite council member or send them an email. Doing nothing at this point will cost all of us dearly.
View and Listen to pre-council discussion of this issue at last pre-council meeting! (This is an amateur recording with my personal video camera from a very poor position in the pre-council chamber. Audio may require a headset to clearly understand. The city no longer video tapes these sessions. This works best with Internet Explorer.)
Related Article: 5/23/05 - Citizens - Please Shut Up!