American citizens have a constitutional right to free speech. The First Amendment guarantees that right, and no state, municipal or parliamentary procedure rules, ordinances or charters trump the U.S. Constitution. It is the highest law of the land, and only the U.S. Supreme Court can rule otherwise.
I want to commend many city staffers and a few councilors for promoting transparency in government, especially City Clerk Debra Owen and Councilor Kermit Staggers. This city is fortunate to have them working for us.
Sioux Falls Mayor Dave Munson, however, is testing the Constitution and specifically the First Amendment by citing bogus parliamentary procedure at recent City Council meetings.
Any citizen in Sioux Falls or even in the metropolitan area is allowed to address the council on any topic before the start of regular business at a council meeting. Munson asks citizens to adhere to a five-minute rule for that testimony, but this is merely a courteous rule – not a constitutional one. Yet Munson has timed me and several other citizens to the second and cut us off exactly at the five-minute mark whether we are done testifying or not. He even has used a plain clothes police officer to intimidate citizens. In fact, the last time I spoke, the officer followed me to my chair and hovered over me briefly.
The use of intimidation to end testimony is a possible violation of the First Amendment and should not be tolerated. As long as a citizen does not threaten elected officials or use inflammatory language, officials must allow the person to finish his or her grievances whether they agree or not.
I’m sure Munson’s actions against free speech stem from his bloated capital improvement plan budget that is 14 percent higher than last year’s and his unbridled drive to increase retail taxes during a slowing economy. Many citizens have voiced their concerns about the amount of pork for special interests contained in the budget and the need for a tax cut – not an increase.
This lame duck mayor is trying to squelch criticism before the larger citizenry catches wind of his budgetary abuses and the Sept. 8 vote on the retail tax increase. One citizen even pointed out the capital improvement plan budget hearings were mysteriously not rebroadcast on CityLink.
Last I checked, Mr. Mayor, Sioux Falls still falls under the rule of the Constitution. Please stop censoring your critics at public meetings. It just makes you appear thin-skinned and arrogant.
If you can’t take a little criticism from the people who pay your salary, you need to resign.