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. <\/p>\n
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. <\/p>\n
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. <\/p>\n
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. <\/p>\n
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. <\/p>\n
Anyway, later on closer to election time I hope I can invite the mayor to speak at a campaign event for two minutes. <\/p>\n
Timothy C. Kiel <\/p>\n
Pelzer Drive <\/p>\n
Mount Pleasant <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
See the article here: <\/p>\n
Letter: Transparency and free speech - Charleston Post Courier<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" 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. Continue reading