Wednesday's Town Hall Meeting Gives Us a Glimpse of Participatory Democracy

At Brownville's City Commission meetings, the cameras and sound system that, up to that point, have been carefully recording every word uttered by the mayor, city commissioners, city attorneys and planners are turned off, just before the people who pay for everything, the taxpayers, are allowed to speak.  Brownsville TV, Channel 12, displays the above sign accompanied by instrumental guitar until the voters have had their say.

Does that seem like democracy, "people-rule," to you?  Of course, it is not.  It is, as they say in Arkansas, ass-backwards.  The words of the taxpayers, the voters, the people are the most important words spoken in a democracy and should never be banned.  

The Town Hall meeting Wednesday night on the proposed raising of downtown parking fees, held in the Market Square Conference Room, was an outstanding example of the reasoned influence citizens can have on public policy.  City Planner Ramiro Gonzalez spoke for 18 minutes, using materials he had read from books detailing how other parts of the country had handled their downtown parking situation, making a case for tripling parking fees downtown.

Then, the people spoke.  Outside of octogenarian Dagoberto Barrera, who gave a theatrical performance, not particularly relevant, all of the commenters contributed ideas, observations based on personal experience and thoughtful examination of the issue.  After all, this was not merely academic for them, but connected to, in most cases, the survival of their downtown businesses.  We understand two of the commissioners were there for a good part of the meeting and two others joined later.  It should be required viewing for the entire city commission and the mayor, because this city is woefully lacking in citizens who participate in government.  The City Commission's ban on the broadcast of public comment sends a clear message that citizen participation is not wanted.

Something touched on briefly at the Town Hall meeting by Robert Uresti is that city employees park free downtown.  It's very difficult for them to empathize with the employees of downtown businesses who have to feed the meters all day or risk a ticket.  The parking around city hall features several Mercedes, BMWs, Range Rover of city employees with their I.D. on the dash or rear view mirror. These salaried folk make 4 times what downtown city workers make, yet park free.  That's called being "out of touch."

While replaying video from the Town Hall meeting, something caught my eye.  Moderator Ramiro Gonzalez, in setting "ground rules" for the public commenters, promised to come back and summarize the meeting, incorporating the comments from the public into the entire presentation.  That didn't happen.  Could it be that the tone of the meeting didn't go as projected?  Just a thought.