John Rice, President of the East Alabama Republican Assembly, addressed the Lee County Commission during their meeting on Monday, June 26th of 2023 to present them with a resolution requesting that citizen comments be once again included in the minutes and live streams of every meeting. Standing before the commission, Rice stated "I have a resolution from the East Alabama Republican Assembly and basically, I don't think I can get it in in 3 minutes but y'all have a copy of it. It is 28 signatures, 29 counting mine, I am the chairman asking you folks to reinstitute recording in the minutes of comments from citizens and live stream." He went on to continue "Whereas the members of the East Alabama Republican Assembly collectively representing a portion of Lee County's concerned citizens recognize the importance of an inclusive and transparent process where citizen engagement and input are vital components of a thriving, representative democratic society fostering accountability, responsiveness and mutual understanding between elected officials and the public they serve."
Rice concluded his thoughts by saying "It goes on and quotes an article of a couple weeks ago from the East Alabama Examiner, when we read that we thought 'well, maybe a petition to you guys'. We met this afternoon, Tony, and I am going to give you the copy with all of the signatures in it. I hope that y'all will take this and the effort that we have presented it to you and that is in good faith" In a stunning turn of events, immediately after Rice's comments ended, County Commissioner Richard Lagrand, Sr. removed his identification badge, stood up, left his seat from behind the council dais and walked over to the same podium for citizen comments where John Rice had just been standing. From the position of an ordinary citizen, Lagrand addressed his own county commission by remarking "The next work session I think that we need to do needs to be on citizen's communications. The reason I think that is important, because obviously, we have got some issues with it. We have got some good things that are being said with it, although, I think personally it has been abused a few times. I think it is very important, I think that this is something that we need to acknowledge and try to see what we can come up with as a body."
Since their meeting on July 12th of 2021 in which the Lee County Commission unanimously approved a motion to remove citizen comments from their minutes and live streams going forward, speakers have suffered violations of their civil rights at the hands of Chairman Bill English in his wanton crusade to silence public criticism. Willie Philpot had his microphone unceremoniously cut off at the direction of Chairman English during the citizen comments section of a Lee County Commission meeting as he was recounting the destruction of his trash removal business which had been crushed by a commission mandate forcing citizens to receive unwanted curbside garbage pickup service exclusively through an involuntary contract with a handpicked, government approved vendor.
Legal questions and ethical concerns in regards to the cutting off of Philpot's microphone may be up for debate, however, since that incident occurred during the citizen comments portion of the meeting it was not recorded in the minutes or live stream which effectively created an information blackout. In this sense the Lee County Commission has cut off their own nose to spite their face through an ill-advised decision to exclude citizen comments from the public record, having produced a veritable vacuum in reality where disputes that could have otherwise been easily resolved instead take on a life of their own in a he said/she said social media controversy of their own making. Bodycam footage recorded by police officers has become standard operating procedure in law enforcement, as much for their own exculpatory purposes as it is intended to safeguard the public from abuses of power.
Would it not be in the Lee County Commission's own self interest to ensure that what occurs during the citizen comments portion of meetings is publicly accessible so as to exonerate them of any potential wrongdoings? When it comes to bad optics, Chairman English really stepped in it when he violated the first and fourth amendment rights of Opelika resident Elizabeth Burton by blocking her from speaking at the microphone and instructing a sheriff's deputy to physically remove her from the council chambers. Determining whether this act by Chairman English was legal or ethical would be a simple enough proposition for members of the public if the commission were to comply with the resolution provided by the EARA requesting that citizen comments be restored to the minutes and live streams of meetings.
Citizens may be left wondering what if any context exists for Ms. Burton's forcible removal from that meeting. Having experienced what she perceives as judicial malpractice in the Lee County Probate Court under the jurisdiction of Judge English in an inheritance claim that he is presiding over, Burton felt desperate enough to seek satisfaction by apprising her county commission of the legal plight that she finds herself in. Instead of allowing her to speak, Chairman English silenced Burton much in the same way the commission has muzzled Lee County residents en masse by removing their citizen comments from county commission meeting minutes and live streams.
Comments