Public Speaking

Comment Up
I guess from writing a blog, the most interesting item on the Agenda at today’s City Commission workshop was that of Civility at Public Meetings, or if you will, the freedom of speech.

We all get blasted from time to time from someone who has another point of view. If you bring up politics even with friends, they will loudly put you in your place if they don't agree. On a blog, particularly when it is anonymous, some people can be very rude. We chalk it up to just part of the territory and think nothing more about it. It’s the same feeling I get when I speak at City Hall and the entire Dais ignores me.

The Golden Rule has been around for centuries and it is the standard that different cultures use to resolve conflicts—treating all people with consideration, not just members of your own group. The Mayor brought up this rule today when speaking about standards for public speaking.

We have some meetings that are more controversial than others and a few people get a little hot at times. It is rare. They actually make jerks of themselves at the lectern and they don’t care. We all sit in our pews with embarrassment or even shock at times. “I can’t believe he said that,” we think to ourselves. “God, I would never say that...calling someone a cockroach.” We remember these characters for a very long time--they are a part of Lake Worth. They threaten the City not to step one inch on to their property and scream about it or want to sue. They shout about high electric bills or whatever turns them on that day. They blame the city on anything or everything that makes them unhappy. It doesn’t take much. And being very loud is a requisite of their rudeness.

Some commissioners as well as the city manager are upset with these loud outbursts and even afraid of some people who have spoken in front of the Commission. These citizens have talked loudly and have not spoken according to the Golden Rule or have stopped some commissioners or the city manager in the parking lot after a meeting to scream some more. They have slammed down their hands on the lectern, they have pointed their fingers at specific commissioners, they have uttered inflammatory remarks and are just overall discourteous, bad-mannered, insolent, uncouth, offensive, ill-mannered, vulgar, boorish, and/or disrespectful. The Commission wants to end this behavior.

It goes without saying that people should be polite and cordial and treat others with respect but will this new policy go too far? Will people be subdued to the point of not even bothering to say what they think. There is the slippery slope here. Will the consequence of limiting speech lead us into censorship of what we say or even worse, possibly tyranny? Yes, that is melodramatic but stranger things have happened.

Will a resolution on Rules of Decorum actually make it impossible for citizens to say what they want? As you will only be able to address the Chair, will even looking at anyone else on the Dais cause you to be immediately chastised? Can the government actually do this? By making this policy does it erode or even remove our basic freedom? The City will say “no.” It will even recite a Supreme Court case.