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Meeting not up to Center's standards "Better to remain silent and be thought a fool, than to speak up and remove all doubt." Who hasn't heard and had a little fun with that old saying from time to time? And maybe it applies to at least one of the people who spoke publicly at Monday's Washington City Council meeting. The trouble is - there is still doubt. After spending more than $2 million on a beautiful, first class, stateof the-art facility that is sure to bring much growth and development to Washington, the council still cannot make its proceedings properly audible for the scores of attending citizens who wish to understand and participate in all that transpires. One would think that with the new level of electronic wizardry available in the Pope Center that someone could have at least picked out the right kind of microphones, or perhaps part of that $2+ million could have been spent to wire each member of the council for sound. Many times during Monday's meeting, councilmen had to shift around and borrow microphones in order to be heard - and usually only after a member of the audience had complained. Guest speakers at the podium provided were interrupted to be instructed on how to speak into the microphone and even then, in some cases, it didn't help. This has been going on for as long as we can remember and there was some grace granted while the Center was under renovation and the council was meeting temporarily back at City Hall. But it is distracting for anyone who wants to be involved in city business to have to strain to hear. It is disruptive for the audience to have to ask a councilman to speak up or use a microphone often only after much of his comments have been missed. It is embarrassing when the mayor has to interrupt a speaker in the middle of the point he is making. It is unprofessional and it makes the city look bad. How dare the city attempt to show off the new top-notch Pope Center without making sure the meeting can be heard. How dare they brag on their cutting edge technology when they can't even get the sound right at a simple council meeting ... not to mention how the members and complement were crammed onto a too-small "stage."
Come on guys - you've got a classy facility and you've got the technology available. Show some class and get it right.
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