Editorial: Commissioners have to prove emailed comments are more than junk mail

There are only so many hours in the day, and in a work day, that number is even shorter.

Instead of working with 24, you are compressed to just eight. Anyone who has tried to shoehorn one more meeting in between this planning session and that roundtable can attest that the hardest part about doing things between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. Monday through Friday is that there just isn’t enough time to schedule everything.

So it is understandable that the Westmoreland County commissioners have a timetable to which they have to adhere. A 10 a.m. meeting cannot stretch to 2:30 p.m. when there are three more meetings that will pile up like a car crash on the parkway if something goes too long. It’s not just a bad use of the commissioners’ time but also a waste of taxpayer money for the employees who need to be at those meetings.

Because of that, there will be a change to commissioners meetings starting in January, when emailed comments will no longer be read during the time allotted for public comment. Actually, they won’t be read aloud at meetings at all.

Commissioner Gina Cerilli Thrasher attributed the change to time constraints and additional meetings. Solicitor Melissa Guiddy said the emailed comments still will be included in the official minutes and accessible to the public via the county website.

For Commissioner Doug Chew, that’s an improvement, as he says it’s “easier for me to make notes and highlight.” That’s the kind of attention to what’s being presented that is ideal.

But it’s a kind of attention that the commissioners will have to prove they are giving the emailed comments by giving them the weight and reaction they merit.

Commissioner Sean Kertes said the reading was done because of the pandemic and that fewer people were able to come in and make comments, but now people are returning to meetings and reading the emails isn’t so crucial.

The problem with that is email is an effective form of engagement for more than just medical reasons. There are people who work and can’t take off a weekday morning to sit in the courthouse. There are people with kids or elderly parents who can’t get someone to help watch so they can comment on something important. There are many reasons someone couldn’t come to the meetings in person, but their needs and statements should still be important.

Reading the emails may not be necessary during the meeting because of the ticking clock, but the commissioners will have to take care to not treat those emails like clutter in their inbox. Residents’ voices can’t be silenced just because their words aren’t read out loud.