Patience and Protocol: the dos and don’ts of attending civic meetings
Our city and county commission meetings are public and we encourage people to sit in on these meetings to learn how our government works.
Now there is also an avenue for participating in these meetings. If there is an issue being discussed that you would like to speak on, there are steps you can take to get on the agenda and you’re given an allotted amount of time to speak to commissioners and the public.
I’ve taken the liberty of jotting down a few tips on how to make the most of your time addressing our city or county commissioners.
1. Don’t be crazy. I can’t stress this enough. Don’t go in there with some irrational axe to grind or with some outlandish conspiracy theory and expect everyone to simply bow to your will. Run your ideas by some sane people in the community first to see if they agree it warrants a public statement to local government.
2. Keep you comments concise and be prepared. If you do get the opportunity to address the commissioners, be clear, be brief and be prepared. Don’t get up there and ramble on. You only have a limited time so make the most of it. If people had unlimited time to address the commissioners, we’d be there for hours and hours. Your message will have so much more impact if it’s clear and focused.
3. Don’t leave early. That’s rude and tacky. If you’re going to go complain or raise an issue at a meeting, then sit through that meeting and see how your government works. Some folks get up in front of the commission, say their piece then immediately leave. It sends a message that you don’t care about the rest of the meeting or what’s being done, you just wanted to give them a piece of your mind.
4. Be familiar with how these meetings work. There’s an agenda. There’s protocol to follow. Know who you’re addressing. Know their names. Study the agenda in advance. This is all public information. That can be accessed on the city or county’s website. They post all the commissioners names, the meeting dates, times and places and they post the agenda.
5. Don’t wear a tin foil hat.
6. Don’t presume that your issue is somehow vastly more important than everyone else’s. Everything being discussed at these meetings is important to someone. Respect that.
7. Don’t bombard the commissioners with questions. Use your time to vocalize your concerns or issues. If you have questions, contact the appropriate city/county government departments that deal specifically with your issue.
8. Don’t expect special favor. Just because you live on the same street as County Manager Jamie Mccord, or you went to school with City Manager Sammy Rich, doesn’t mean you somehow get special treatment at these meetings or your issue is addressed with more urgency than others.
9. Know your rights. Your ACTUAL rights. So many people get on social media and blast local government for violating their rights when, in fact, no actual constitutional rights were violated. Just because you’re mad about something doesn’t mean that your rights were violated. Know the difference. One of my favorite headlines from satire news site The Onion is “Area Man Passionate Defender Of What He Imagines Constitution To Be.”
10. Be patient. Remember that, just like you, government officials can get tired, they may also be frustrated with the processes of government, they have families, they have jobs, they have problems just like we all do. The wheels of government sometimes turn very slowly. Insulting or screaming at officials isn’t a great way to make them move any faster.
12. Be self aware. Know what you’re getting into before you complain to local government and want them to fix your problems. You bought a house in a fancy neighborhood. Don’t complain about the cost of historic renovations. You bought a house next to the train tracks. Don’t complain about the noise of the train and expect the county to somehow just divert that track from going past your house.
13. Do use your time at a commission meeting for positive feedback. When you address a commission meeting, it doesn’t always have to be with a complaint. If you think there is someone or some entity in local government that has earned praise, you can use your allotted time to publicly acknowledge that person’s good work or that department’s efficiency. Just like they need to hear about shortcomings, they also need to hear when something is being done well.
There absolutely are issues that we should take to our local government officials. There are lots of problems that need to be addressed in our community. I have my complaints too. But there are appropriate channels to do so and there are guidelines we all must follow.
I encourage you to attend meetings to see how your local government works. Decisions are made at these meetings that affect our families, our homes, our businesses, our taxes, our roads, our utilities and a variety of other things. If you can’t physically get to the meetings, they’re streamed and recorded. The Rome News-tribune also covers these meetings and those stories are available in the paper as well as online.