NTF worksheet: douglascounty109.doc. 4-19.
NE TAXPAYERS SPEECH TO COUNTY BOARD ON CITIZEN COMMENTS: APRIL 2, 2019.
Good morning. Doug Kagan, 416 South 130 Street, representing NE Taxpayers for Freedom. We do understand why several county commissioners want to pass this resolution. In the past several months during sometimes heated exchanges between commissioners and the public, several members of the public have lodged accusations against the personal characters of county commissioners, accusations for which our group has received no evidence. Under current rules interpreted by your legal counsel, commissioners have no recourse to defend themselves against such accusations. Despite deep disagreements that some members of the public, including our NTF members occasionally, have with county board deliberations and decisions, passing this resolution, in our opinion, will muzzle the 1st Amendment rights of those taxpaying citizens who comment tactfully along with those who show a lack of proper respect and decorum.
Understand, too, that other government entities allow the taxpaying public to comment on whatever subject they wish to speak, e.g., the state board of education, Omaha Public Schools. Eliminating Citizen Comments at this point in time, when there is contentiousness over justice center expansion programs, will appear to county residents as merely a means to stifle criticism.
Therefore, we offer another solution to this situation. We suggest that the board formally establish conversational rules of conduct for Citizen Comments on your agenda. NTF would be willing to cooperate with commissioners on formulating such rules as a means to continue enjoying our 1st Amendment rights in this venue. Thank you.
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The County legal counsel states that commissioners cannot comment during Citizen Comments time, surprisingly because of stipulations in the Open Meetings Act law.
County Attorney Don Klein stated that commissioners can listen to citizens during this time, and the board chairman then can tell citizens to contact their board member for further discussion.
Board members decided to allow commissioners to briefly answer citizens during Citizen Comments time but not discuss or debate issues.