(PENSACOLA) --- The fact that Mary Konopka only got three minutes to speak on an agenda item at a county commissioners meeting is fundamentally not fair.
Those were her exact words last night to Escambia Commissioners as she approached the podium.
She's right. So right, even AI picked it up in last night's OpGov.ai coverage of the regularly scheduled meeting.
This is AI's take on it.
"Despite the chairperson's initial plea for efficiency and a controversial decision to limit public speakers to two to (three) minutes due to a 'packed meeting,' the session frequently veered into disarray with interruptions and sharp exchanges," OpGov.ai reports.
However, AI did not note that the most significant "interruptions" came from Commissioner Ashlee Hofberger cutting off Mary and every other resident.
Like Mary, citizen voices have become second to the agenda, which every meeting reads recommendation after recommendation like credits at the end of a movie, with each line blurring into the next.
Commissioners give a document more respect than the public, rarely rejecting items already printed, unless there's too much public outrage.
But if you pay attention to what Mary says and all the other citizens who were brave enough to speak up, then you realize how fundamentally unfair the time limit really is.
After using her walker to get to the podium, Mary began.
Mary Konopka, one of many citizens cut off at the microphone at last night's Escambia County Board of Commissioners meeting.
"LET (Law Enforcement Trust) funds are not mandated to be used as aids to private organizations," Konopka said. "They cannot be used for operational funding, day-to-day operations of the sheriff's office, but they can be used for equipment and extended investigation and for the school resource officer program, which, by the way, is more inclusive to children than any other program I've seen do through here."
Then, Konopka brought up the Washington Girls' Softball Team Boosters application for promotional advertising.
"They want $500, and they're going to put a banner on the fence of their ball field that says don't do drugs, or something to that effect," she said, adding they applied for it "under drug prevention."
Then she asked the inevitable question.
"What's the rest of the money going to be used for?" Konopka asked, then answered her own question based on the paperwork she had filed to request the money.
"It is not going to uniforms, gear, or ball field repair," Konopka. "That's not drug prevention."
While "granted, kids are on teams that keep them off drugs and the streets," Konopka said, "there's a lot of other things that do too."
She makes a point, driving it home by noting how much more this happens with other sports groups.
Next, Konopka used the upcoming 12th Annual Baptist Foundation Gala, which asks for a $ 5K donation to cover the cost of the event, noting that last year the event raised $280,000 for a Baptist facility in Gulf Breeze.
Then she offered some advice.
"If you know you are going to need five thousand dollars next year, are you going to waste away what you have and go beg for it next year, or are you going to take five thousand and throw it in a high-yield CD for a year so you will have more than five thousand dollars to use for the ne
Bottom line, she said, "LET funds can be used in other ways that cover a lot more people."
That's when she got interrupted.
"Thank you, Mary, we really appreciate your comments; Eric Sharplin, your next," Hofberger said.
Hence, Konopka never got to finish what she wanted to say, which is the only thing that matters to this reporter, who cares for every citizen who gets up to the podium seeking to be heard.
Mind you, many other citizens were also cut off.
If you have any thoughts on public comment speaking time, let me know in the comments below or email me at reporterangelaunderwood@gmail.com.
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