ACTION ALERT! Public Comment Removed from Commissioner’s Regular Meetings by Chair Bob Main

The Owen Building

225 N. Adams St. Coquille, Oregon 97423

9:00 AM Tuesday, February 21, 2023

There are few places where the public can be heard by our representatives and fellow citizens except during public comment at a public government meeting where the citizens are allowed to speak on the issues and topics they choose during the “Public Comment” section of the agenda.

The Coos County Board of Commissioners has normally been a place where the people could count on the Board members to listen to their grievances and issues that are of their concern. It has been that way for many decades. The BOC was one of the few places the people could count on the public discourse between the members of the board and other people in the meeting.

Recently, at a meeting on January 24th, a person signed in to speak to the commission and openly prayed for the commissioners and their agenda. Nobody was hurt and that person kept the prayer within the 3-minute time limit allowed by the board. It is their time to speak just like everyone who has testified in front of the Board.

Commissioner Bob Main took offense at the meeting that someone would dare to use their time for public comment to calmly and politely say a prayer for him, so in retaliation for the comments of this citizen of Coos County, Bob decided at the next meeting that he would limit the public comment section to only the items on the agenda going against decades of public comment precedence. As Chair of the Board, he has full authority to make that decision.

Here is an audio file of the offensive comments:

At the next meeting, there were citizens of Coos County who had topics they wanted to discuss at the BOC meeting on February 7, 2023, that was not on the agenda. They were summarily dismissed from speaking during the public comment section and told to take their seats.

When it was my turn to speak during public comment I spoke on the issue of Section 2 of the agenda, Public Comments. King Bob did not like having his authority challenged and after the meeting, he told me that he might just take the “Public Comment” section off the agenda completely. I thought he was joking because he said it humorously. It was no joke at all because he planned to silence those people with opinions that he did not like.

The official agenda for the BOC was sent out on Thursday for the regular meeting on February 21, 2023, and there was NO agenda item for Public Comments. It is usually in Section 2 of the agenda.

2-21-23-agenda-packet.

It appears Commissioner Bob Main has unilaterally decided the people of Coos County will not get to voice their opinion and there will be no more public comments during the public meeting of the BOC’s regular meeting.

The idea that one lone commissioner can decide to silence an entire county is the actions of an authoritarian and the people should not stand for this type of tyranny. Both Commissioner John Sweet and Commissioner Rod Taylor had nothing to do with this policy change. They seemed a little annoyed at Commissioner Main for making such an outrageous decision.

Why bother attending a public meeting if we are not allowed to have our say?

Main did state at the meeting on the 7th of February that people could speak to the commissioners right after the official meeting was over and it seems like an offer the people should not refuse.

Everyone who is incensed by such disregard for public input should join me in discussing this issue with the commissioners after the meeting, which starts at 9:00 am on Tuesday, February 21, 2023, in the Owen Building.

We pay Bob Main’s salary, we pay for the building, we pay for all the maintenance and he is supposed to represent “We The People.” No public comment at the meeting goes against a long-standing tradition of the BOC in Coos County.

It is the job of the county commissioner to protect the rights of the people not create policies that put up barriers between them and their representatives.

Also, you should consider sending the BOC an email with your grievances against this policy of NO PUBLIC COMMENT….Sincerely, Rob Taylor