Tonight before the city council meeting councilor Stehly talked to a boy scout troop about city government, neighborhood watch and than asked the troop to pay close attention to public input as it was an important part of city government.
Shortly after a usually long public input that the mayor tried to ignore, he ran after the Boy Scout troop to see them on their way in the outer room.
Joe Sneve from the Argus tweeted this about the encounter;
So while Stehly seems to see the importance of the 1st Amendment and citizens petitioning their government during public input, the Mayor turns around and tells a Boy Scout troop that it is a ‘circus’. You wonder just how confused they must have been. Leave it to the mayor to call a constitutional right a circus. What a putz.
UPDATE: Joe corrected me today, the mayor didn’t use the word ‘circus’ but something along that sentiment when apologizing to the Boy Scouts.
Yes, the wrong impression. He has one privileged daughter. Not someone for Boy Scouts to listen to. Promoting tyranny in a public setting, really.
I don’t agree with everything you say. I am completely in your corner on this one. A mayor has an obligation to support the Constitution and understand that open forum is exactly that, exercising of the 1st. An important lesson for young Americans. If people don’t understand how to address and present grievances to government, well, then they start blocking interstates and blocking vital services to other citizens.
I was watching the Council meeting on Channel 16 and wondered about the Mayor’s sudden departure.
Obviously, since there was a reliable eyewitness to what Mike Huether told the Boy Scout troop, it is not some wild story an opponent dreamed up.
One of the main things both the Boy and Girl Scout organizations teach is citizenship.
If I was the leader of that troop, I would invite a constitutional specialist as a guest speaker to talk to the kids about the First Amendment.
And, for the benefit of the kids, I would make sure the Mayor rec’d an invitation to join them.