Bad night for democracy

To the editor:

Last Tuesday evening, Mayor DeVilbiss abruptly cut off resident testimony over his controversial Wishbone Hill Mine resolution. The borough had rented the Palmer Depot to hear from expected large numbers of concerned residents, but almost half of the people who had signed up to speak were simply cut off. It’s little wonder people lose trust in their government.

Before the meeting started, my eyebrows were raised at the sign-in table. Never before have I been asked to declare my position “for” or “against” anything I might speak about. Sometimes people simply bring information or don’t decide a position until they testify. So I asked the assistant clerk nearby why there were special sign-in sheets only for the mine resolution.

She said that the mayor intended to alternately call on people “for” and “against” to make sure each side was heard evenly. But it wasn’t even. I have copies of the sign-in sheets and 59 people signed-in to testify “against” and 36 “for” the resolution. Four signed an unspecified list.

DeVilbiss alternately called proponents and opponents before suddenly stopping testimony cold at 9:30 p.m. That left 44 of the 99 people who had signed up cut off from their right to speak to their government. Of those 44 left to speak, 34 had signed as opposed, seven in favor and four were unspecified. Had testimony continued, the illusion that the crowd was evenly divided would have evaporated. No matter what the numbers on either side, the manipulation of the process was wrong.

When a lot of people come to speak on an issue everyone is normally accommodated by extending the meeting or continuing the meeting to another date. Assembly Member Keogh, in whose district the mine proposal lies, moved to overrule Mayor Devilbiss’ cutoff off of testimony.

Unfortunately, Assembly Members Arvin, Woods, Halter and Ewing went along with the mayor. It was an outrageous violation of open government and public trust.

Whatever opinions people may have, they should all be welcomed. It was a sad night for the process of democracy.

There could have been a good use for a resolution about mining and adjacent land use that could have served to bring people together rather making community divisions even worse. It was the borough that approved subdivisions and road improvements in the area adjacent to the former mine. Education and public understanding didn’t happen, and the borough did not address the seriously conflicting land use issues that exist.

The resolution itself was relatively unimportant in the course of the state deciding whether or not the proposed mine will go forward. We the people need to be vigilant about a fair and open process.

Bottom line, we cannot allow the mayor and assembly to take away our hard-fought Constitutional right to petition and speak to our government.

Jim Sykes

Palmer