I attended the Dec. 3 Allegheny County Council meeting in the courthouse’s fourth-floor Gold Room. All the seats were filled when the meeting was called to order. The council was scheduled to vote on the proposed 2025 county budget. First, John Palmiere made a motion to reduce the three minutes of public comment to one minute. All but three council members voted for it.
President Patrick Catena called the names of at least five pages of people who had registered to make public comment. Most were absent. For those who were present, their time to voice their opinion face-to-face to their elected representatives had just been cut by two-thirds. Three minutes of public comment was promised on the council webpage.
I have experience in public service. I taught Pennsylvania public high school students for 25 years. I was told as a new teacher, if you ever get tired of listening to and actually hearing your students, it is time for you to leave their classroom. In my opinion, the majority of council didn’t want to hear our opinions of how they should spend our money.
I hope it is not repeated Dec. 17.
Tom Bailey
Verona