HUNTSVILLE – Residents are still being heard at the end of Huntsville City Council regular meetings, but they’re not being seen. That’s not sitting well with everyone who takes their presumed social media gripes to a television audience.
The decision by Council President David Little kicked in Thursday night and has drawn some negative reaction from the public. As president, the decision legally sits with Little.
“You think about some stuff my dad (former Madison County Circuit Judge Lloyd Little) dealt with when he was on the bench and then I thought, “Well, gosh, what am I worried about?’” Little told 256 Today. “He dealt with far worse from people. The mayor (Tommy Battle) certainly has over the years dealt with far worse criticism and stuff. I was joking when it was over, ‘I got called a liar (Thursday night).’ He’s like, ‘Welcome to the club.’
“So, being on the hot seat, so to speak, was a new experience for me. I really did some deep soul searching and was like, ‘No, this is my decision and I’m gonna stick to it.’ I didn’t say we couldn’t come back and revisit it.”
There were uneven responses from colleagues.
“As a senior councilman, I continue that legacy of service by not only hearing each one’s having problems remedying their concerns to their satisfaction,’’ said District 5’s John Meredith, who preceded Little as council president. “I would not have been nearly as successful in representing my constituents if I was not willing to hear their voices, because I would not know what was important to them. Universally, I feel it is important that everyone in the city be heard whenever they have an issue, whatever that issue may be. Toward that end, public comment is an essential tool and I feel necessary to the public discourse. Am I disappointed? Yes.
“But President Little has the sole authority in this matter. It is his meeting. He never told me how to run my meetings and I won’t tell him how to run his. For the residents of District five, your voices will always be heard by me, whether or not the broadcast is live.”
Longtime District 4 Councilman Bill Kling said, “We can agree to disagree and we’ll just leave it at that.
“However, if somebody wants to come in — I guess they could record the public comment. If they want to stream it off of the Internet at home, they’re welcome to do that. We’re not closing the door on that.”
The city is not required by law to air live he countcil meetings nor the comments at the conclusion of the agenda. Most of the time, comments at the end have no relation to anything on the agenda. Weeks back, the second-roster comments mostly related to issues involving library censorship and the Israel-Gaza conflict and nearly lasted as long as the meeting itself.
Public comments were once held prior to the meetings, which infamously lasted until midnight at times. There is one simple question regarding the decision to not air the second round of public comments.
“The, ‘Why?’ is that there are lots of other more efficient ways, better ways for people to engage with us,” Little said. “And it’s also just streamlining our process that we’re just gonna stay focused on official city business as far as what I record what we broadcast.”
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