Time limit not applied fairly
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Editor,
A press release provided by City Attorney James Raymond on Nov. 5, 2009, states, “Polson is relatively rare among third-class cities in having set out and adopted specific local rules that take all the public participation mandates into consideration.”
I believe the “rare” rules are intended to stifle citizen participation. They are designed to pander to narrow-minded sensibilities of what city officials find tolerable, and assume too much implied authority to judge whether citizen’s comments are of significant interest to others.
On Dec. 19, 2011, the Polson City Mayor reinstated a three-minute rule restricting citizen’s comments that the City Commission discontinued two years previously in January 2010. The rule was originally adopted Aug.15, 2005. Generally, a three-minute rule is understood to be a way to manage large crowds. Missoula, a first class city, rarely uses its three-minute rule. Records of Polson meetings show the Commission was inconsistent in applying the rule to everyone equally. In fact, they were so unconcerned about the issue of fairness that on Dec. 15, 2008, almost three years after implementing the rule, they made a decision not to purchase and install a three-minute clock.
The three-minute rule was brought up during a Commission meeting Nov. 30, 2010. A Commissioner said, “We don’t enforce that thing anymore.” A newly appointed Commissioner said, “Ya, we keep that for just a couple of people.” A citizen said, “Isn’t that profiling?” The statements failed to appear in the written record of the meeting, which is a violation of state codes, as is profiling. The City Manager form of government has failed to protect citizen’s interests. Inalienable rights that govern citizen participation and the right to information are more significantly flawed than before.
Margie Hendricks
Polson
