Freedom of speech

By Letters to the Editor
From page A5 | 1 Comment

EDITOR:

I am writing in response to your recent article regarding free speech at the Cameron Park CSD meetings. I am a resident of Cameron Park and began attending board meetings in 2002. I attended monthly meetings for years as a concerned citizen. I didn’t always agree with the board, but I found they were generally trying to act in the best interest of the community. They put in countless hours for very little thanks.

Several years ago a very small, very vocal group of residents started coming to the meetings. They were given time to speak their minds and voice their opinions. They seemed to be determined to hijack the meetings with their anger and negativity. I have been at meetings where foul language was shouted at the board and a glass door slamed so hard I thought it would break. I would describe some of the angry residents as being so full of rage that I wondered how anyone would stay on the board and take that abuse. I can fully understand why some board members may have felt physically threatened.

I don’t see how the board would be capable of conducting any business unless they put limits on public input. I think anything short of letting these few people take over every meeting would be insufficient, in their minds.

In conclusion, if those few angry residents felt threatened by a sheriff’s deputy, maybe they knew their behavior was inappropriate and bordering on illegal.

JUDY BRANTNER
Cameron Park

Letters to the Editor

View all my stories Email Me

One thought on “Freedom of speech”

Gerald Lillpop says:

September 17, 2012 at 9:51 am

Dear Ms. Brantner:

I have never seen you at a meeting perhaps you would like to introduce yourself some time. As to a Deputy being at a meeting, you are ignorant of the facts. This was a ploy by Alan Clarke and the General Manager to intimidate citizens from exercising their First Amendment Rights. Do you get that? No one was threatened or even really concerned for their safety. You would know this if you had attended meetings recently. I can say this because I have made it a point to attend every meeting of the CSD since the August board meetings, including two special meetings in August the Fire Committee meeting, the CC&R Committee meeting, the Budget and Administration Committee meeting and the Parks and Recreation committee meeting. None of these meetings have had a Deputy present. When asked why no Deputy was present at all of the meeting he was at Alan Clarke said “I didn’t ask for one” I guess his anxiety was short lived once he understood that his attempts to stifle the citizens he represents didn’t work.

If you had been at the Parks and Recreation Committee meeting this month you would have heard Alan Clarke use Mr. Bill Carey’s house burning down as an example of some point he was trying to make. Using Mr. Clarke’s logic and memory techniques, that caused him to request a Deputy attend the August board meeting, you could accuse him of wanting a citizen’s home to burn down. Of course you’d be wrong. That is not what he did and he was quick to explain that he was just using this as an example. But Mr. Clarke never affords anyone else this courtesy of rhetorical flourishes. So, should the citizens of Cameron Park demand that a Deputy be at every meeting that Alan Clarke attends? Should Mr. Clarke be concerned if we do? Who should pay for a Deputy attending a CSD meeting? I would think it should be the person who requests it.

Reply