I had the privilege of addressing the Mount Pleasant Town Council July 11 on an issue near and dear to my heart; ironically enough the topic was the towns plan to update its rules for responding to Freedom of Information Act requests.

As I spoke I was well aware of the time limitations for speaking set forth in the towns ordinances and backstopped by the states FOIA law. I tried to keep my comments brief, but I went over my allotment of free speech. As I was trying to wrap up, the mayor kindly informed me that I had exceeded my time limit, thanked me for my input, and moved on.

I got the distinct impression that the mayor was more interested in moving the meeting along than listening to one of the people she was elected to represent.

Free speech and leadership sometimes means you have to at least listen and be receptive to ideas and opinions you may not agree with. Perhaps if the mayor listened a bit more some of the divisive issues the town is facing today could have been avoided.

Perhaps if issues were openly discussed, ideas fully expressed and a consensus reached, a more transparent administration could be achieved. Instead, the administration appears to be interested in complying with the letter not the spirit of the law, all the while watching the clock.

Anyway, later on closer to election time I hope I can invite the mayor to speak at a campaign event for two minutes.

Timothy C. Kiel

Pelzer Drive

Mount Pleasant

See the article here:

Letter: Transparency and free speech - Charleston Post Courier