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Fountain Hills council suspends public comment at meetings
Big changes are coming to how the public can have their voice heard at Fountain Hills town hall meetings. Comments will now be limited to only items that are on the agenda.
FOUNTAIN HILLS, Ariz. - Members of the Fountain Hills Town Council voted to approve a plan to suspend public comment during a tense meeting that involved the mayor clearing the room, after being interrupted at one point.
What we know:
According to the meeting's agenda, one of the items discussed during the Nov. 18 meeting involved invoking either a six-month suspension of the "Reports by Mayor, Councilmembers and Town Manager" and "Call to the Public" segment of the meetings, pending a legal analysis of a notice of claim, or enacting a resolution that removes both agenda items from the council's Rules of Procedure altogether.
The backstory:
Per a report made by the Town of Fountain Hills, a town resident named Bethany Culp delivered a Notice of Claim to the town government, alleging that "statements made by certain Councilmembers and members of the public that included ‘essential words of Christian theology’ violated the Establishment Clause of the United States and Arizona Constitutions.
The Notice of Claim names the Town of Fountain Hills as the defendant, as well as Mayor Gerry Friedel, Vice Mayor Allen Skillicorn, and Councilmember Hannah Larrabee, in their individual and official capacities. The claim focused on a town council meeting on Sept. 16, where Friedel allegedly allowed a pastor to "eulogize Charlie Kirk, promote her Christian religion and involve the Christian tenet that only ‘believers’ would be saved."
The claim also alleges that during a portion of the same meeting where councilmembers can provide "two-minute summary reports of their town related activities and discuss town related events," Friedel allowed Skillicorn and Larrabee to use their allotted time to "eulogize Charlie Kirk, engage in religious proselytizing, read from scripture and invoke demons, Hell and salvation in an effort to promote their Christian religion and coerce and intimidate members of the public who were in attendance or participating in the meeting via the link to the live broadcast of the proceedings."
Culp went on to allege in her claim that during a public comment period in the same meeting, Friedel allowed a local resident, identified in the claim as Larrabee's husband, to "eulogize Kirk, engage in religious proselytizing, promote his Christian religion and attack the ‘radical left’ for ideologies and the lifestyles that have poisoned the minds of his killers."
"Given the Culp Complaint allegations stem from comments made during the Councilmember reports and the Call to the Public, removing or suspending these agenda items is reasonably calculated to prevent additional related claims against the Town," read a portion of a staff report that was written for the proposal. "Implementing a six-month suspension or removing Agenda Items C and E from the agenda as defined in the Rules of Procedure is not an admission of wrongdoing on the part of the Town or Council. Rather, it is intended to balance the First Amendment rights of constituents and Councilmembers against other legal considerations."
Dig deeper:
As mentioned earlier, the meeting on Tuesday night was tense at times.
"You have repeatedly thrown this town and council under the bus, numerous times, in articles…" Mayor Friedel said during the meeting, his words interrupted by another person who said:
"Because I talk to the media, Gerry, which you're afraid to do," the person said, off camera.
After some words by others, Mayor Friedel cleared the room.
In an e-mail we received on Nov. 20, Councilwoman Brenda Kalivianakis said she was the person who had the exchange with Mayor Friedel. She also said she voted ‘no’ on the proposal because she believes it "violates the trust that has been placed in the towns elected officials by silencing their voice in the most effective venue offered."
Members of the public also weighed in on the plan during the public comment period.
"To try to take away our freedoms to speak and share, and for all of you to share. You get to tell us what's going on. We need the right. Please do not take that away," said one woman.
"Fairness does not mean allowing the same handful of radical people to hold the entire town hostage," another woman said. "So, when he moved to temporarily suspend calls to public because it's being abused, every single meeting by the same radical group, that is not censorship."
What's next:
The town council ultimately voted to approve suspending the public comment. Mayor Friedel, however, said it will be brought back after a work group goes over the way to amend public comment procedures.
The Source: Information for this article was gathered from the Town of Fountain Hill's website.