OK, so according to a small blurb in today’s Marietta Daily Journal, Monday’s Cobb commission work session included an interesting item.
It seems it was decided that during the public comment portion of future meetings, if an individual becomes abusive and/or makes personal attacks, County Attorney Dorothy Bishop can now step in and provide a quicker “hook.’’
Like Smyrna City Council meetings, speakers are given three minutes to speak their peace at county commission meetings. And like Smyrna City Council meetings, things can get a little testy and personal during the citizen input portion.
The change came in response to when a speaker went personally at Chairman Tim Lee at a Sept. 27 board meeting, voicing his displeasure that Lee wasn’t making eye contact with him. The chairman responded that the resident needed to keep his comments on topic.
Generally, Smyrna Mayor Max Bacon and the council refrain from commenting following the at times personal attacks from the small but vocal group of citizens who criticize their work at meetings (unless to dispute and correct inaccuracies).
The question here is do you think a quicker hook should be given to citizens who become abusive and/or make personal attacks at Smyrna City Council meetings?
And overall, what changes need to be made, if any, with the citizen input portion of the meeting? Let us know what you think with your civil comments and opinions.
No EXCUSE!! It's a disaster! And the city wants to SILENCE the people that LIVE HERE & KNOW what makes a city livable! No Trees, jumbled up clutter EVERYWHERE! There is no beauty!! We live in this place & every effort should be made to give us quality of life! There is nothing that says Smyrna is being run properly! If I had a nice business,... this would be the LAST place I'd invest in! The conditions, from Spring Rd. up through Concord, along Atlanta Rd to Windy Hill, back down South Cobb-- looks like a freakin' tornado struck! There is NO CONCERN from any city officials , reguarding the looks & economic conditions here! I can only hope a new group will get into office-- but even so,.. it will take a good 15-20 years to turn around the damage that has been done! I am just a citizen-- not a whole lot I can do ,... but try to hold elected officials ACCOUNTABLE! Ignoring citizens only shows their UNaccountability! It's a new day baby- it's time the Smyrna citizens speak out & be heard!
I too would like this place to look like Disneyland but I think there are limits to what we could expect Mayor and Council to do. You may be better received if your message is delivered in a better package. If you don't like your neighborhood, reach out to your neighbors directly and see how you can help them. They may be struggling financially like others or developed health problems preventing them from physically doing anything. Don't expect the city to go out and fine your elderly neighbor that can't cut his grass any longer or afford lawn service due to meds. Go cut it for them, I have. Adopt your own stretch of road and clean it up. Take a little pride and initiative. I could probably do more myself and should. Probably will one day. But I won't be complaining. I'll be doing. Get out and explore the world a little more also. Smyrna isn't so bad. I was born here. I grew up here. I went to King Springs, Brown, Griffin, Nash, Wills and Campbell. My son goes to Belmont Hills. He's played T-ball at Brinkley. We play at Cobb Park all the time. This is my home and wouldn’t trade it for anything. I currently travel three or four days a week. Usually back and forth to Miami where I refuse to move to. Sometimes I go to the UK, South America, other American cities frequently. They ALL have the same problems as us. I go to Decatur and these other "model" cities you cite all the time. They have their problems too. I wouldn't live there, but you are free to go any time..
The county attorney is named Bishop. Why not email her (this includes the Patch editor) and ask for the written policy and law? Is it constitutional? Will someone be silenced and then arrested for waving his arms too much? How about speaking too loudly or too forcibly? What if someone says, "Man, I am really, really mad about wasteful government spending!" Does that constitute a threat? When the ACLU gets involved it should get really, really interesting.
I was referring to the new pronouncement in the mdj yesterday. What will be the rules? Ask the commissioners and county attorney.
http://douglasville.patch.com/
Thanks Bruce. Do you have any links about James & James & events of being silenced in Douglasville?
Don't let these folks bully you into not expressing your thoughts. Unfortunately, it has been a real problem here.
I am interested in how this city is run. I, as well as others, might be interested to what happenerd reguarding this (silencing) issue, to our neighbors to the west.(Douglasville) You clearly tried to discourage that converstion w/ Bruce continuing.
I definitely agree that volunteering in the community is more important than ever. Surly there are some market research professionals/community development professionals - or just enthusiastic citizen that could pitch in to help out. It's times like these that it is up to the community to make Smyrna a place worth calling home and continuing to improve.