Editor:
Is our city manager too busy micromanaging the affairs of our city to recognize when the citizens have problems with their city government? Mr. Myers prefaced his “letter to the editor’ published November 15 by stating that he felt a “certain responsibility” when a letter is “so inaccurate that the public is misled.” In spite of this strong statement, isn’t it interesting that he failed to point out even one specific inaccuracy in his quest to “set the record straight?” His failure is simple to diagnose. It is because the real facts cannot be disputed.
The real facts are: 1) The Hot Springs city board does NOT presently have a public comment section. 2) Citizens can ONLY speak at city board meetings for or against items that are listed on a pre-approved agenda. 3) To place an item on the board agenda, a citizen must fill out an “agenda request” form and submit it at least one week prior to the regular board meeting. 4) The final board agenda is approved and established by board members at an “agenda meeting” usually held the Tuesday before the real public board meeting. 5) Many requested agenda items are disapproved and NOT permitted on the agenda.
Our organization, Hot-Springs-Metro.org, strongly opposed the city’s poor planning for orderly traffic flow and has made numerous unsuccessful attempts to discuss this item at various city board meetings. Denials to be heard led us to point out that not allowing the public to speak at public meetings is hypocrisy. Sure, citizens can go through their “red-tape” process and request permission to speak but requests must be made a week ahead of time and still require approval at the city board agenda meeting. Although misleading wording is used, note that even Mr. Myers admits that his board, at their agenda meeting, denied our request to speak at a board meeting. How can he not see hypocrisy and censorship here? In fact, when we stood to speak at a previous agenda meeting on the same request item, we were firmly told, “No, you cannot speak tonight or Monday night.” This diatribe was by Mr. Weatherford who was acting Mayor that evening. Myers states that a “sign-up sheet” is available at board meetings but he fails to inform us is that these forms only allow the public to sign-up to speak for or against an item that is on their pre-approved censored agenda.
Please, fellow citizens, if you have any doubts as to the real facts,
take Mr. Myers up on his invitation to attend a
Bob Driggers, Hot-Springs-Metro.org