The Jeffersonville City Council is wrestling with how to handle public comments. Beginning of the meeting or the end? On agenda items only or nonagenda items as well? During the discussion of the public discussion, the mayor had his say:
Tom Galligan spoke about the vulnerability he feels sitting in the mayor's chair during the Jeffersonville City Council's regular public-comment periods.
"It's really a defenseless situation,” Galligan told city council members Monday. Often during the speaking periods, one person's emotion feeds off the last.
“Anybody can walk up to that microphone and say anything they want and there's no way to defend yourself,” he said.
Awww, poor mayor. Anybody can say anything. He should start a blog, then read the replies to the posts. There are good reasons to manage public comments -- for example, not letting meetings get bogged down by people just venting on irrelevant subjects. Protecting the delicate sensibilities of thin-skinned politicians isn't one of the reasons.
