3 responses to “OPINION: Vote tonight is for or against 1st Amendment”

1. 

   Doug Tucker

   February 17, 2023

   The Mayor and City Council took a serious look at our citizens’ rights to inject agenda items into the City Council’s meetings. They tabled any decision on the topic until at least March. I like the way a couple of council members addressed the ordinance change consideration. First, changing our ordinance is serious business and requires some research and discussion. Second, the current ordinance has worked and it may not be necessary to change it. Third, Peachtree City is a unique place and we can lead or follow (municipality trends).

   The “city ordinance that allows an individual private citizen to place an item for discussion on the official meeting agenda of the Peachtree City Council” apparently is unique among 15 local municipalities surronding us. With the city staff and a new City Manager looking to review and update our ordinances, this staff recommended ordinance change surfaced.

   I don’t care for the overall way our city’s staff is going about this. It seems to me we are taking a piecemeal or fragmented approach with obtaining council approvals upon conclusion of each ordinance review. Of course, there may exist more dialog between the staff and council as the City Manager leads this process, but last night’s meeting did not reflect it to me. As much as we like to use benchmarks to evaluate our efficiencies, benchmarks do not always exist to represent the best practicies. Sometimes we need to establish our own benchmarks to incorporate unique values.

   As always, I admit to maybe being inaccurate about this stuff. I watched last night’s council meeting with appreciation for our Mayor and City Council. I believe we have a balanced mix of honorable representatives who have our best interests at heart. To me, it’s all about attitude and I believe our Mayor and City Council have good attitudes and I appreciate their efforts. I sure don’t want their jobs.

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2. 

   secret squirrel

   February 16, 2023

   It’s always amusing when chickens come home to roost. Closing polling places is chapter 1 in the GOP SOP. Limiting dissention is in chapter 2.

   Of course, to use Cal’s term, when a “gadfly” becomes repetitious and impedes necessary discussion, however well-intentioned they may wish to be, a reaction is to be expected. Is this the right action? No, but lack of self-governance is the vacuum from which actions are borne.

   Just please don’t eat Partners Pizza during a Council meeting. Taxpayers have already footed one unnecessary bill in that regard.

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3. 

   Doug Tucker

   February 16, 2023

   I agree with you, Mr. Beverly, “the city ordinance that allows an individual private citizen to place an item for discussion on the official meeting agenda of the Peachtree City Council is as pure a form of petitioning the government as I know.” (As I know, as well)

   I also agree and I am also “in awe of the unknown (to me) past council members who thought highly enough of their constituents to enshrine that basic First Amendment right into the city code that binds the council to listen.”

   As much as I consider this specific form of petitioning the government an excellent demonstration of responsive and faithful governing, direct independent citizen input into the City Council’s agenda is not an absolute necessity. I know of no other governing body that allows direct independent citizen input into its agenda. I will like to maintain the ordinance as it currently stands, but I can live without it. We have other means to petition, as well as compel our government to do lawful things.

   We, all of us, are responsible to elect representatives for the reasons we choose and with the expectations they will do the lawful things we elected them to do. Let us allow them to govern. When we get to the point we cannot trust the people we elect, we have the means available to us to make correction.

   Again, so as not to be misunderstood, I will like to maintain the ordinance as it currently stands.

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