By Noah Dawson
In case nobody has noticed, I'm not the biggest fan of the direction our city has been headed over the past several months. One of the most infuriating changes that have been made has been the change in the meeting time, with the public comment period now a separate meeting, advertised as being held from noon until 1:00 pm.
As usual, I signed up to speak just as the signup period began. However, I was not able to make it to the beginning of the meeting. I arrived at about 12:40 pm, ready to speak. After all, the council had extended the public comment time to an hour long, and I still had time.
At least, that's what I thought.
By the time I had entered the council chambers, the meeting had wrapped up. The council members present were mingling in the audience, and I was told by the city manager that I was too late.
I told him that the meeting was advertised to last until 1:00 pm, but he insisted it wasn't. A simple look at the city's website proves it was advertised to last until 1:00 pm.
I'm used to the council ignoring me, but this was even more upsetting. To deny me the opportunity to speak left me feeling frustrated. The fact that the city manager falsely insisted that the meeting was not advertised to last for the full hour was even more frustrating.
But, the thing that left me most frustrated of all is the fact that I'm certain I won't be the only one.
If a working person wants to use their lunch break to speak, not only do they have to hope they make it in time, but they have to now make sure they make it before the public comment period is prematurely ended. Having public comment at this time, in my opinion, necessarily demands the council be flexible to citizens who can only make it to the latter half of the hour.
Hopefully, I can make it next time, and hopefully they don't move the meetings to midnight before then.
Amarillo City Council