Respect needed on both sides at meetings
Published 8:42 am Wednesday, September 13, 2006
By Staff
Many hours of my life have been spent attending meetings – village, township, city and school boards.
The majority of the men and women sitting behind the tables are not doing so for any more than trying to help their communities and their children.
Unfortunately along with their inexperience often comes an inability to keep order, a lack of understanding of simple Robert's Rules of Order.
If you have been following the council meetings of the little town of Roseland, between Niles and South Bend, you know what a laughing stock a board can become.
Physically removing an elderly man for simply saying Amen, following the Pledge of Allegiance, has to have some history behind it.
Though I haven't experienced anything quite that ludicrous, I have seen meetings which got out of control and others which dragged on and on well beyond a normal time limit.
Time, both that of the board and of those in the public who are attending the meeting, needs to be respected and not wasted on unimportant, picky things.
Unless you have actually sat on such a board, it is hard to imagine how a desire to help your community could turn into the most dreaded evening of the month.
Packets of material to read become overwhelming.
Some basic premises should be learned.
A board or council is representing the village, township or parents, in the case of a school board.
It is not their job to consult those who voted them in on every action they take.
Hopefully, when the voting took place, the voters learned about the candidates and chose the ones who would best represent their interests. It shouldn't have been a popularity contest or whether they were a woman or man.
Past actions should have determined if someone should be reelected.
If the candidate seems to have a personal agenda, the good of all the people will probably not be his or her first concern.
But wasting time and money on recall elections, as seems to happen in this part of the state, can only hurt everyone.
Good, qualified candidates may just decide to not run for office if the community has a history of council members having to defend themselves.
That is not to say one's opinion isn't important.
Time is allowed for public comments. True, as is the case in the Village of Cassopolis, sometimes the public comments seem repetitious.
We live in a free country where if you first don't succeed – ask, ask again.
Should the comments which keep being repeated each month be true – that one of the council members is actually not even living in the community – then it is the council's responsibility to seek the truth and take action.
The work of the community and school needs to be done. Items have to be purchased, quotes received and decisions made.
Questioning where the money is going is good and a responsibility which board members are pledged to uphold.
The public has a responsibility too to monitor the councils to keep them honest and to get the most for their tax dollars.
Money spent on lawsuits, recalls and repeating work already decided is a waste.
Council members learn how to do your elected job and answer to the public.
The public in turn needs to be respectful at the meetings and speak only when the time is allowed.
Let's work together.