Rushed hearing, interrupted input appears cynical

Dear Editor,

 Today, I had an opportunity to attend Washington County Commissioners meeting in which they held a very short public hearing in reference to proposed code changes in an ordinance on Planning & Zoning. 

 I have concerns about the intent of this rushed morning hearing. First, this was a public hearing held at 11 a.m. on a Monday morning and working people did not have an opportunity to voice their concerns. Secondly, this public hearing was scheduled during the regular commissioners meeting and was given only 30 minutes on the agenda to complete. 

 That is not a public meeting meant to hear from Washington County constituents in any way. A lack of effort to inform and accommodate the public, the working County constituents is unacceptable.  

 I chose to speak at the hearing. In my statement, I thanked the commission for allowing me to speak and then I referred to the people in the room. Do you see anybody less than 60 years old here? The reason is because the younger folks are all working and this hearing was not scheduled in a way that anyone that works during the day could have an opportunity to come and speak their mind. I requested that the commissioners think whole heartedly about rescheduling this hearing about code changes for planning and zoning to another day, after 5 o’clock to be held at the Vendome Events Center, so we could have more than 20-30 people attend.

 There were instances today within the meeting, where people were there to voice their concerns on the business at hand. They had three minutes to speak on the floor; however, several were stopped in the middle of their speech because they were told they were off topic. That’s not right. If a constituent has only 3 minutes, then that is their time to speak respectfully. 

 A public meeting means that you can air your frustrations about the decisions being made. That is what our commissioners are supposed to be listening to. It’s best to have prepared for your speech, but even prepared and written concerns were interrupted.  Please Commissioners Jim Harberd, Nate Marvin and Gordon Wilkerson, reschedule and hold another hearing after Thanksgiving.  

Linda Strain 

Weiser, Idaho