I knew after the short-timer councilor last week kept interrupting a public inputer while he was sitting in his jammies on the couch phoning it in, and my corresponding public input, the mayor decided to send the council the below letter reminding them he doesn’t understand prior restraint.
As you can see, he is saying he can remove or arrest people based on them being noisy, irrelevant or making personal attacks.
He is correct, do NOT make personal attacks on elected officials. Stick to the business at hand, and if they did something wrong within their council duties, you DO have the right to dissent them at a meeting, if they did something wrong in their personal lives, that is NOT within the business and decorum of the chambers.
Don’t make personal or violent threats. If you do, you will probably be arrested for making personal threats towards those on the dais or any city employee or member of the public present. The 1st Amendment doesn’t cover violent threats, and it shouldn’t.
As for slander, this one is a slippery. If what an individual is saying is blatantly false and obviously false, yes, you can ask someone to stop saying it. But I go back to prior restraint. How do you know what the individual was saying was slander?
How do you know if someone is irrelevant?
What is considered noisy and rude? Could grunting and groaning into a hot mic be considered noisy, disruptive and rude? Sure. So does that mean the city council can call to have the mayor arrested for not following decorum? Well according to his own letter, you could, since he is consistently rude and dismissive of most public inputers.
It is a 1st Amendment violation to cut people off simply because their voice is too loud or they are saying something uncomfortable about a city employee or elected official. State law and city ordinance does NOT supercede the 1st Amendment and as long as you are talking about city business or politics in general you cannot be stopped or arrested (a frequent inputer who constantly praises the mayor comes at least twice a month to tell us about another right-winger book he is reading. How is this relevant?)
You can be as rude and loud as you want to be.
If you have noticed, the mayor hasn’t arrested or banned anyone yet, I will tell you why, because he knows if that person decides to sue based on constitutional rights he would lose, big time. He reminds me of those Shih Tzu dogs, all bark and no bite, and at the end of the day all you have is a lot of dog hair to clean up.
You can always see a rudderless ship start to spin in circles prior to sinking. Start making rules about how to place the chairs in the poop deck as the ship sinks, while forgetting about how to to save the ship.
ElevenHaken is watching his ship sink. No amount of authoritarian dictates will save the wounded and no arrests will save our fearless leader from the depths as the ship sinks.
ElevenHaken is going down and firing everyone so his finance director can take on another role is not going to help. The mayor has failed to define a mission and this late in the game is not his time to learn how to lead.
ElevenHaken likely wishes he was able to declare a war so he could be the white knight from White Church Lane to win the war.
Once you are an elected official you should expect to have to prove actual malice. If you can’t stand criticism – don’t run for public office. And please don’t whinge about not “signing up” to work in a politically charged atmosphere. Weak.
Phttps://dictionary.findlaw.com/definition/limited-purpose-public-figure.html
I recommend everyone use the Eddie Haskell approach to the Mayor and Council. Destroy them with kindness. It will drive them nuts. 😉 ……..:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jM-ETQifV3k
Trick or treat. Speaking (free speech) at a public hearing can get you arrested and held. A sure case for the ACLU. There’s a formal document for evidence. It’s time to expose this arrogant mayor and make an example of the city with a 6 figure fine. This is easier than faking a slip and fall at a supermarket. There’s gonna be a line at Public Comment.
THere is a very fundamental separation of powers problem when the executive branch is deciding what the legislative branch can hear. It would be wise to fix that problem with a charter change so the mayor has no role at city council except to explain his actions. I would have thought that one of the great thinkers at council would have moved to protect their turf. Then again maybe their turf account has already leased it out for them.
It would be enlightening to know if one of the all expense paid educational trips our Mayor went on required him to write this type of letter to have the costs of attendance paid. Seems like many legislative bodies around the country are pressing these kind of policies.
If you read closely, he is enforcing Article 6, Section 5 of the South Dakota Constitution. You can speak all you want, but you are going to be held accountable for your public comments where you go on attack. Say what you want, but if you go over the line, as the At-Large Representative, he does have the police powers to protect all residents, property holders, landowners, public and private persons from personal attacks. This is why I stress do so at your own risk, speak respectfully, cause if you want to go on the attack mode, the Mayor does have the authority given to him to drop the hammer, bring you into a court room, making you answer for your public comments, allowing a jury of your peers to become the judge and jury to determine fact, the truth, and the law.
When are people going to be arrested for the Events Center siding, Bunker Ramp, or a $20 million bridge to the Land of Cherapa? Those are actions that personally offend me….. Not to mention Seney Island, and how that sacred island is now being further desecrated and ignored with “great views” for a few…. Citizens arrest!…. Citizens arrest!….
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9efgLHgsBmM
Sorry, maybe there’s a quirk in the state constitution but I disagree that the mayor should have police powers. This could take a long term jailed hunger strike demonstrator to fix. Sneak me some escargot.
The best way to demonstrate is face away from the council wearing a Speedo and twerk. Where’s my jester hat?
cool, but please make an exception to this rule for groups of anti-vaxxers and anti-maskers