[Vision2020] City Council Stifles Free Speech

[Tom Hansen]

Courtesy of today's (April 6, 2013) Moscow-Pullman Daily News.

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City Council stifles free speech
Posted: Saturday, April 6, 2013 1:00 am
A classic free speech platform took a shellacking at Moscow City Hall on Monday night. An important proposed ordinance on discrimination came before the Council. Instead of hearing from residents - pro and con - the council shut down all public debate. This is a dangerous precedent.
The purported rationale was the Council received a "volume of emails" on the ordinance. Were those emails overwhelmingly pro or con? We don't know. Why did three council members change their votes from the last time it was voted on? We don't know.
Was the real motivation in cutting off public input designed to steal a well-deserved moment of glory from the poised and hard-working mayor Nancy Chaney who was out in front of this issue? Were the three councilmen who flip-flopped (Wayne Krauss, Walter Steed and Dan Carscallen) terrified of having to try to publicly articulate a means of justifying their positions because they are uncomfortable with homosexuality?
An abundance of public interest should not be a trigger to ignore First Amendment input. Instead, the more public interest on a proposed ordinance, the more public input should be encouraged. This is a safety valve for democracy.
No free society has ever been brought down by allowing public input on controversial matters. When public debate is stifled under the charade of expediency, citizens feel like their voices don't count. Don't foreclose public comments or we will assume you are afraid of them.
When you ignore the electorate, the electorate ignores you.
Benjamin Onosko
Moscow
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I could not agree more with Mr. Onosko.  

The people's right to be heard must not be denied.  It is the very foundation of our democracy.  Council members Carscallen, Steed, and Krauss had absolutely no right in denying this opportunity to those who attended the April 1st city council session to express their opinions on this critical issue.

For those of you who may have missed it, here is the opening segment of this discussion.

http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=CRLreZu8yv8&feature=plpp

Come election day I'll seeya at the polls, Moscow, because . . .

"Moscow Cares" (the most fun you can have with your pants on)
http://www.MoscowCares.com
  
Tom Hansen
Moscow, Idaho

"There's room at the top they are telling you still 
But first you must learn how to smile as you kill 
If you want to be like the folks on the hill."

- John Lennon
 
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