Thursday, March 27, 2014
Letter: Harassment by Middletown Committee
At the March 17, 2014 Middletown Township Committee meeting, I was treated rudely by two of the people on the dais.
These committee people appeared not to be listening to speakers at the public hearing until I began. Then, they "pounced like vicious animals," as a citizen noted.
(Go to the videotape to see, at minutes 20:12 and 1:41.)
http://m.youtube.com/watch?feature=youtu.be&v=R_3tNaa5VjM
I urge the committee members to adhere to the following guidelines for civility when addressing a public speaker from the dias:
"Separate people from the problem:
Personal attacks or questioning people's motives or character rarely moves the conversation forward to a solution of a problem... Anything that approaches name-calling should be off limits.
Be compassionate:
Eye-rolling and grimacing can be nonverbal forms of heckling and also have no place in communities that value mutual respect.
Avoid debates and interruptions:
Interruptions should be discouraged so that individuals have the opportunity to collect their thoughts."
The whole guide is at:
http://www.ca-ilg.org/sites/main/files/file-attachments/tips_for_promoting_civility_in_public_meetings_2.pdf
Carolyn Schwebel
Leonardo
**************
This post has been updated
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4 comments:
If you think this is bad, you should go to the Board of Education meetings and talk to them.
Also, your use of 'disrespected' was used incorrectly. You can be disrespectful, show a lack of respect, not have any respect, be shown no respect but the way you used disrespected is incorrect.
Anon 1:9.
Just what are you talking about? Dr. Schwebel never used the word disrespected ! Anon Know it all,it's you who are disrespectful!
Go to California to get you so called respect, since that is the link you used. Here in NJ, like the Governor says, "If you give it, your gonna get it."
Maybe you should take his advice and start off by giving some respect. Your just pissed off cause you cant further your agenda anymore! Most people can see through your ruse!
Anon 9:42,
Public officials have an obligation to meet a high standard, to conduct themselves appropriately and to be respectful of the public. That's true no matter what and it's part of the job. There is no excuse for the governing body's conduct at this meeting.
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