Dear Editor,
Some letters to the editor distort or ignore facts that do not agree with their author’s beliefs. One example is the letter from Dale C. Bills that appeared in The Messenger on July 13, 2023. Mr. Bills asserts that “speakers have pleaded with them (Putnam County BOE) to be more like Forsyth and Oconee when it comes to public comment.”
In fact, there have been no such speakers. Further, the public comments policy of both Forsyth and Oconee Boards of Education contain the following identical limitation: “Each member of the public participating in the public comment will be given no more than three minutes to speak. The Board or its Chair may limit the total time allocated for public participation, as well as further limit the length of individual comments at its discretion for the purpose of the efficient operation of the business of the meeting.”
Putnam’s BOE policy is similar, except that it states: “The total time allocated … may be limited to 30 minutes …” In other words, our Putnam BOE policy says that the speaker’s three minutes will not be shortened and (also) at least 10 speakers will be heard under all circumstances.
Contrast this policy with Oconee and Forsyth, which may limit the speaker’s allotted time and the number of speakers at its discretion.
I leave it up to the reader to decide which policy is more welcoming.
Steven A. Weiner, Putnam County BOE Chair