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Some corrections must be made The shenanigans continue with the Washington City Council. At the very next meeting after Councilman Pamela Eaton made such a heartfelt plea that petty differences be put aside and that the members of the Council work together for the good of the city, Mayor Willie Burns pulled a stunt that will serve only to further the division that plagues the meetings. At last week's Council meeting, Burns slammed the gavel and declared the meeting adjourned without allowing the customary time for each councilman to bring up matters of concern. He said it was a "wake up call." He said it was an "effort to get them to work together." He said he's "got to lead." And he claimed he had to "send a message." A lot of people woke up after that gavel fell. We woke up and noticed the juvenile lack of professionalism by which Washington Council meetings are being conducted. We woke up and noticed that when the mayor suspects that subjects he doesn't want discussed in public are about to be aired, he will take the rights of the councilmen away. We woke up and noticed that he apparently is not interested in a democratic form of government. That was some kind of "wake up call." From comments made by the various councilmen after the slammed gavel, it was clear that they were not prepared to be shut off. Outrage was expressed by councilmen and the public alike. If anything, we should all work together to prevent any continuation of this kind of behavior by demanding that all be allowed time to speak in open meetings. The mayor says that is the plan for the new extra work session companion meetings to the regular officialCity Council meetings. The plan is to have separate meetings at which councilmen may discuss all the matters they wish to discuss but to save any action until the regular Council meeting on the second Monday of each month. The public may attend the separate meetings but may not comment or ask questions. The meetings will be held at odd times. The next one is set for March 4 at 4:45 p.m. Such a plan is just another step in a deliberate plan to keep the public as far from city business as possible. The first step was to move the regular Council meetings from 7 p.m. to 6 p.m. But members of the public continued to attend - the plan didn't work - and this new plan was implemented. It is not just inconvenient - it is simply wrong. It is a dastardly attempt to circumvent open meetings and the public's right to speak, question, and be heard at government meetings. All government meetings must be open and must allow input from the public until all have had an opportunity to express their concerns. (The current trend of requiring agenda sign-up to be allowed time to speak is equally as wrong. This method is also employed by the Wilkes County Board of Education.) So what must be the motivation? This changing of structure, adding meetings at odd times, and dictating new unfounded rules smells of corruption and suggests that the mayor is hiding something. He says he's "got to lead." Maybe he really means he wants to rule. Maybe he wants a level of power and dictatorial privilege worthy of an emperor rather than a mayor. Maybe he doesn't understand that in this country, our elected officials, while they do enjoy a certain level of celebrity, are public servants not kings and queens. In this issue, and possibly others, the mayor's "leadership" is taking us down the wrong road and the message we've been sent is that there should be some scrutiny of his actions and some corrections made.
Without those corrections, we fear what his next step might be.
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