Northampton County Blatherskites Worry About Public Comment

In recent years, Northampton County Council meetings have rarely gone longer than two hours. In fact, Council President Kerry Myers and former President Lori Vargo Heffner have joked with each other about who can conduct a quicker meeting. Unfortunately for them, they were forced to listen to nearly three hours of public comments at their last meeting from parents concerned about a doctor who allegedly misdiagnoses child abuse as well as union and nonunion contractors who had differing views about the responsible contractor ordinance. Now, Lori Vargo Heffner wants Council to review the public comments policy. 

Her timing is awful. It sends a message that the last think Council members want to know is what members of the public actually think. In fact, I received this Facebook message yesterday from a local resident: "Guess they feel the need to silence people speaking out about important issues."  

I doubt that is Vargo Heffner's intention. If her goal is to formalize an unwritten policy that gives each speaker five minutes, that's a good idea. But the timing is still terrible. 

Although current Council members may think that its most recent meeting went on for too long, they are mistaken. Over the years, particularly at budget time, Council has had meetings that have gone until past 1 am.  Meetings that lasted four hours or more were the norm when Ron Angle was one of the nine overseers. It used to drive everyone, including his wife, nuts. 

The first time I met Sharon Angle was at one such meeting. She had been forced to drive Ron to the meeting because his leg was in a cast. She had reams and reams of magazines to review, but after a few hours, she began groaning and complaining, "Won't he ever shut up?"

"Excuse me, but who are you?"

"His wife." 

Council members never hesitate to blow their own horns during meetings with numerous committee reports, even though they are from committees that met that very day. Then there's the endless liaison reports. They have no rules of order, which means that members like Tara Zrinski can weigh in on one issue about 40 times before a vote. 

Pretty much every single one of them has, at one time or another, fit the definition of blatherskite (N. A person who talks at great length without making much sense). 

And they want to review public comment? 

The right of the public to speak at public meetings is enshrined in both The First Amendment and Pa. Sunshine Act. The First Amendment specifically provides that the "people" have the "right" "to petition the Government for a redress of grievances."  Under the Sunshine Act, either residents or taxpayers must be afforded a "reasonable opportunity" "to comment on matters of concern." Anyone who buys a gallon of gas or cup of coffee in the county is a taxpayer.  Moreover, whether the matter of concern is an agenda item is irrelevant. 

I'd agree that Council should formalize its public comment policy, but doing so right after hearing a number of heart-wrenching stories from members of the public is completely tone-deaf. Before they regulate public comment, they should regulate the blatherskites among them with rules of order.