Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances. – The First Amendment to the United States Constitution A couple weeks ago I made a mistake. I voted to suspend Public Comment from Weld Board of County Commissioners’ (BOCC) meetings. I did so not because of what any member of the public said. I did so because, in my assessment, another member of the Weld Board of County Commissioners was making a mockery of the Public Comment process.
This commissioner would, without prior knowledge of any other member of the BOCC, write resolutions and proclamations, solely political in nature, and then request they be added to the agenda. I do not want to consider anything until I have had the opportunity to read it, discuss it, and consider its ramifications – a view that is shared by some of my other fellow commissioners. Therefore, the motion to amend the agenda would die due to lack of second.
