(PENSACOLA) --- Ding! Thank you, Jonathan, for your comments; we appreciate you.
Change out the name, and that is what Commissioner Ashlee Hoffberger repeated over and over after three minutes had elapsed for each resident who spoke at the Escambia County Board of Commissioners' (BCC) podium on May 21.
Mary Konopka, silenced one minute at a time, knows this best.
"She's fed the names to call," Konopka said. "Other people are scanning the room, making sure, as best they can, that the people who signed up are there to speak."
Konopka, a small-business owner, is known for standing at the podium to voice her concerns, but she recently suffered a fall. Konopka's highly circulated, weekly "Our County" is often based on her address to the BCC. But being homebound has not stopped her from getting the word out with help, until the last BCC meeting on May 7.
Kopoka handed her concerns to resident Larry Downs, asking that he speak on her behalf, but Hofberger shut that down when Downs asked.
"This is part of the lack of ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act) preparation that I've been hitting the county up on," Konopka said.
"There are hundreds of people in this town who cannot make it to meetings due to physical disabilities, whether they're permanent, whether it's post-surgical, or an accident they have to recover from, who want to speak, who want to be part of the county government but can't because they're not allowed to speak."
As for email, just a ruse.
"They say it's an option, but you know yourself, if you're not in their district, they don't even care about your email," Konopka said.
(Photo: Escambia Citizens Watch Facebook Post after May 21 meeting)
When it came to speaking time, Commission Hofberger and Mike Kohler took all the minutes they needed to fight on the dais after publicly praying for wisdom.
"Father, we are mindful, and we are weak, and we sin against you, and we ask you for longsuffering, patience, and forgiveness," the man of the collar prayed, adding that the Providence blesses the county.
"We pray you grant each commissioner the understanding of the issues that will be brought forward, that You will grant them good wisdom in their decisions," the man of the collar prayed.
(Photo: Board of County Commissioners agrees in prayer for wisdom, God's will during the May 21 meeting)
Do I believe God heard that prayer?
Yes.
Do I believe the commissioners heard that prayer?
No, because if they did, the public, especially the disabled, would be respected, and fighting on the dais would cease.
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