Fayetteville Councilman tells Planning Commission to ‘Speak Up!’

Fayetteville City Councilman Jim Williams didn’t mince any words about his opinion of the Planning Commission Thursday night.

During the council comments portion of the City Council meeting, Williams said he had attended the Feb. 28 Planning Commission meeting and had issues with how the meeting was conducted.

“I couldn’t hear what they were doing on a very important motion,” Williams siad.

Williams said after the meeting City Councilwoman Kathaleen Brewer came up to Williams and asked him what the Planning Commission had done, because she also couldn’t hear.

The city’s management staff is having a retreat Thursday and Friday, and Williams suggested maybe the Planning Commission should attend in order to “learn how to conduct meetings.”

Mayor Ed Johnson was also at the Planning Commission meeting and he said part of the problem is that the microphones are too short and you have to get right in front of the microphone to be heard. Johnson said he had instructed City Manager Ray Gibson to find a solution to the problem.