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Schlabach’s proposal drew a firestorm of criticism soon after it appeared in the commission’s published agenda, as all five commissioners were bombarded with angry emails last Monday urging the commission to vote it down. At Tuesday’s meeting, many more residents showed up to protest the move during the public comment period that Schlabach had targeted for elimination.
“The public speaking section belongs at the beginning of the meeting when we can talk about the issues, not after it’s all a done deal,” said Beryl St. Jacques of Beverly Hills, who summed up the mood of the crowd. “You people were elected to serve us, not to do an end run around us, and I think that’s a dastardly idea!”
By the time the issue came up for commission discussion, only Schlabach’s far-left colleague Holly Davis joined her in supporting it. Schlabach and Davis argued the public would still have an opportunity to speak once a motion and a second was made on any agenda item. But newly elected Commissioner Diana Finegan pointed out that would mean muzzling citizens until after at least two commissioners had made up their minds on any given issue.
In the end, Schlabach and Davis saw the handwriting on the wall and withdrew their proposal to silence the public. But their antidemocratic instincts prove they both deserve to be defeated in the next election.
Tuesday’s victory for citizens’ free speech rights demonstrates exactly why it’s so important to preserve Citrus County’s time-honored tradition of allowing the public to be heard on any issue before commissioners begin the business portion of their meeting. Commissioners are elected to represent their constituents and can only do so properly if residents are allowed to address them at the start of public meetings on the issues they care about. So kudos to everyone who made their voices heard on this important topic: You made all the difference!
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