HECKLERS REMOVED FROM PARK BOARD MEETING

The following item was previously posted on the Issues List.

 

HECKLERS REMOVED FROM PARK BOARD MEETING

At the September 7 meeting, after months of disruptive behaviors by a number of individuals who have been heckling the Park Board commissioners during Open Time, the Park Board took action.  Park Board police removed 10 of the hecklers at the meeting, four of whom were given citations.

The action was long overdue.  At previous meetings, the heckling was so blatant commissioners could not conduct business and had to call recesses.  As a member of the public, I found it extremely painful to be subjected to such out-of-control  behaviors.

In all of the 12 years I have been attending Park Board meetings, I have never experienced such outrageous behavior by anyone attending a Park Board meeting.

At the next Park Board meeting, the commissioners will be voting on a resolution to “include New Language Regarding Decorum at Meetings.”

It is interesting to note that those who are in attendance at Open Time to insult the commissioners and the superintendent and to  disrupt the meetings arrive just before Open Time and leave soon after Open Time.  They do not come to the meetings to follow any of the issues on the agenda.

 

Arlene Fried
Co-founder of Park Watch
www.mplsparkwatch.org