CLEARWATER - The people of Pinellas County can relax. It is not a jailing offense anymore - at least not for now - to speak "disrespectfully" to the County Commission.
Neither will the commission have you removed and thrown in irons, as it did to a citizen at its May 6 meeting, for being "boisterous" or saying something "irrelevant," "impertinent" or "slanderous."
In short, the commission on Tuesday came to its senses (partially) and suspended the rules of "decorum" for citizen speakers that it had adopted in April on a 6-1 vote. Those rules will be rewritten, at the least.
The commissioners were unanimous, although it should be noted that Barbara Sheen Todd and Susan Latvala were not quite as repentant as the rest of the ex-sinners. Both still insisted that the commission should be able to silence citizens at times.
Todd said commission meetings should possess "dignity" and be conducted in a "positive manner." She would not allow attacks on the county staff. Latvala said there are times when the chairman should say: "You will not speak to us in this way. Sit down."
But other than that, Tuesday's meeting was a kum ba ya for free speech. Commissioner Bob Stewart led the way, saying that the commission had overreacted to one particularly offensive citizen. Referring to the time limit that applies to all speakers, Stewart said the policy should be tolerance: "We give him his three minutes, and we go on."
Commissioners Karen Seel, the current board chairman, along with Kenneth Welch and John Morroni joined Stewart, Todd and Latvala in voting to suspend and rewrite the rules. Calvin Harris was the only commissioner who voted against the rules the first time, and was happy to vote to get rid of them this time. The man deserves some sort of medal.
As for the citizens, did they bow down in humble, groveling gratitude?
They did not. They acted pretty much like Americans exercising their First Amendment right to criticize the government. When it was time for the public comments, some of them got up and chewed out the commissioners for enacting the idiotic rules in the first place.
"The arrogance of office leads to people giving orders," scolded a white-haired fellow named H. Patrick Wheeler.
"You are not off the hook yet," said Cathy Corry, leader of a citizen whistleblower group, adding pointedly: "Shame on you."
Neither was arrested.
Really, this episode was simply a matter of the County Commission acting too big for its britches.
"We shouldn't have to allow people to be rude and disrespectful," Latvala had said.
But with no disrespect (!) intended:
Yes, they most certainly should have to.
Look. The commissioners hold an awesome power over a million people.
They take the citizens' money. They boss the people around with laws. They are paid reasonably well for their "public service." Nobody forced them to take the job.
Sure, a lot of crazy people go to public meetings. Rude and insulting people go, too. If we were talking about the commissioners' private lives, or how people deserve to be treated in the private sector, then taking offense would be perfectly reasonable. In those contexts, they are human beings just like everybody else.
But in this context, they are not private citizens. Not in that room. Not while they wield power over the same citizens they try to forbid from speaking "disrespectfully."
I'm not talking about overt, direct threats.
But, mere disrespect?
Abso-dang-lutely.
If a politician is too puny to handle a little disrespect as a county commissioner, then he or she has no future in the business. There's a whole ladder of disrespect to climb - legislator, House, Senate, governor, president - the higher you go, the more folks disrespect you.
So, congratulations to the commissioners for backing off.
But any elected official who ever thinks that it has come time to arrest citizens for being "disrespectful" needs to take a long, soul-searching look in the mirror, and ask the question anew of why he or she sought public power in the first place.
