Dear Editor,
Josephine County commissioners recently met with District Attorney Wally Hicks to discuss proposed time, place, and manner rules governing public participation at meetings. As a concerned member of the community, I believe it is important to address what these rules can—and cannot—do under the Constitution.
Listen closely, my tax-funded elected officials, because it is time to set the record straight.
While government bodies may enact reasonable time, place, and manner regulations to ensure meetings are conducted in an orderly fashion, those rules can never override the fundamental protections guaranteed by the First Amendment. Decorum policies are not a license to silence criticism, suppress dissenting opinions, or shield public officials from accountability.
Public officials must understand that citizens are not required to be polite, complimentary, or deferential when addressing their government. The First Amendment protects speech that is unpopular, uncomfortable, critical, and even harsh. As long as a speaker is not engaging in physical violence, making true threats, or physically disrupting the ability of a meeting to proceed, that speaker retains the constitutional right to express concerns, frustrations, and criticisms of government actions.
The role of elected officials is not to determine which viewpoints are acceptable. Their responsibility is to listen to the people they serve, including those who strongly disagree with them.
Government exists to serve the public, not the other way around. Citizens have every right to demand transparency, accountability, and answers from those entrusted with public office. The public comment process should remain a forum for free expression, not a mechanism for filtering out criticism under the guise of maintaining decorum.
That principle lies at the very heart of representative government and the freedoms protected by our Constitution.
Sincerely,
Eric Fitch