Archive: Opinions

I have been attending many Town meetings for approximately two years and I've recently noticed what seems to be an unfortunate trend. At these meetings, there is time allowed for 'Privilege of the Floor' which is intended to give audience members an opportunity to speak. Often, the speakers seem somewhat reluctant to speak, but they are speaking up because of their heartfelt opinion concerning a subject being debated by the Town. Each speaker is allowed 3 minutes to express themselves, with no more than a total allotted of 20 minutes for all speakers.

The trend I've noticed is the failure of the Board (Town, Planning or Zoning Board of Appeals) members to really pay attention to the speakers. This 'failure' takes the form of not looking at the speaker and of moving papers around to the point of audience distraction. Some of the board members are, from my perspective, overtly rude to the privilege of the floor speaker.

I grant that speakers are often nervous and hard to hear. Or as happened recently, one speaker's phone accidentally rang during another person's presentation, and was 'called out' by a board member. The owner of the phone was unable to hear his phone and another person tried to help quiet the phone, which after a short while stopped ringing. The "calling out" was an uncomfortable moment and unnecessary for everyone in the room.

If we in Lansing want to encourage citizen involvement in town matters, then board members should try not only to hear but to actively listen to speakers from the community. One thing that could aid in hearing speakers and enable all involved (including audience members) to pay closer attention, is having better microphones and a better sound system. Microphones attached to board members' (especially Town Board) clothing, rather than microphones on the desktop, might help project voices more effectively. The current desktop microphones are frequently too far away to help broadcast each voice.

I appreciate all members of the boards as they often deal with difficult issues over many hours and days. Having better microphones may make their jobs easier during public meetings, and prevent any unintentional rudeness.

Suzanne Hinderliter
Lansing, NY
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