Pueblog USa
Friday, April 11, 2008
What the City calls a public forum is not a public forum
There is no dialog with the public at a City Council meeting
Testimony to Pueblo City Council
Public Forum, April 7, 2008
Pueblo City Council Members,
My name is Ted Freeman. My topic is “the Public Forum.” Let me start by defining what a Public Forum is, According to Webster’s dictionary the definition of forum is a meeting of people to discuss public matters, problems,….etc. The important words in the definition are to discuss.
Public Forum: In order to make the best use of your time, let’s be honest, the Public Forum is not a public forum at all. There is not a give-and-take exchange between the citizens’ addressing the council because the council does not permit it.
There are no questions answered, only questions asked. I can only imagine what the creators of Democracy dating back to the Greeks, with there public exchange meetings that lasted days and weeks, not minutes or hours, must have thought about the “sham” of the Pueblo City Council’s notions of a Public Forum.
There was some irony in Councilman Ray Aguilera comments in the Chieftain (4-3-08) calling for a Public Forum of the Southern Delivery System. He said, “It’s a way for the federal government to avoid answering questions.” In other words, the same thing this council does with its Public Forum, not answer citizens’ questions. This council needs to pay closer attention to its own back yard before pointing its figure at other governmental bodies.
The suggestion in the Chieftain (4-6-08) may have merit, to enable a Public Forum via the Bureau of Reclamation about the Colorado Springs’ proposed Southern Deliver System, though I would seriously doubt if the City Council is the place. And `Why’ you ask?
Well, in the past week, at a public forum meeting on the Lake Minnequa project, Councilman Ray Aguilera struck out at a citizen for questioning some environmental and other suggestions of the proposed undertaking. Mr. Aguilera, told the citizen, before a group of nearly 100 people, “He was out of control.”
He was not alone. Councilman Randy Thurston told a citizen in a meeting seeking to get on a council work session to have equal time to tell our side of the story why the Convention Center is an unwise investment in Pueblo that the person was “mentally unstable.” Is this the way we want our public officials to behave when questions are offered from citizens. I doubt it.
In the same meeting (3-3-08), you Madre Chair, were quick to offer the same sense of ownership for public meetings that your predecessor did, Council woman Judy Weaver. That is, if I may quote, “People have to understand that this is our meeting being held in public; it’s not a public meeting.” Chieftain Sept. 29). So, we, as citizens, hear once again that nothing has changed in city hall and why would an open Forum be hosted by a council that has four public officials who, themselves, are out of touch with their role as elected officials.
I’m reminded of the words or our esteemed former President John Kennedy, “If you want to find out what a person can do, find out what they have done.” The record is clear here: I think the Chieftain editorial board may be far wiser to suggest a Public Forum, if one is to be suggested at all, try the County Commissioners venue. It is a far more likely body of government to provide more dignified elected officials, open to public discourse and far less likely to unwisely confront citizens who have every right to redress government deeds.
Thank you,
Ted Freeman