COOS COUNTY BOC WORK SESSION - Public Comments at Board of Commissioner Meetings 9:00 AM Wednesday, March 15, 2023

March 11, 2023 Rob Taylor

Coos County, OR Home Page | Coos County OR

There have been two regular county Board of Commissioners meetings without public comment since the Chair of the board, Bob Main, decided to end the practice of having a public comment section on the agenda.

The first reason he gave for ending the practice was that someone said a prayer during their three-minute public comment and Chairman Main thought it was offensive.

A few weeks later, Main sent out an email responding to people who were complaining about him deleting the public comment section from the agenda, silencing the people of Coos County. In that email, he claimed that the reason he stopped public comment was that the board meeting was a government meeting for government business, which was the second reason he gave for ending the practice.

Here is Chairman Main’s email:

The county business (BOC) meetings are for specific county business. If someone would like to comment on a specific item as it comes up for discussion, then they will be recognized to speak on that specific item.

Outside of the county business meeting, we (Commissioners, Sheriff, DA, Assessor, Clerk and Surveyor and department heads) will certainly listen to any and all concerns. I receive multiple telephone calls and emails each day, which I answer as soon as possible. If an item of concern warrants, we can certainly schedule a public work session.

Soon, we will be scheduling town halls around the county ( Lakeside, CB/NB, Coquille/Myrtle Point, Powers and Bandon. Hopefully we will have excellent turnouts.

Bob

Then at the regular BOC meeting on February 21, 2023, Main gave a third reason for taking the public comment section out of the agenda. He said the commissioners could face the liability of a civil suit for commenting on an issue, which is ludicrous and not even in the realm of possibilities. It was a lame attempt to obscure the fact that his ego was hurt because someone dared to say a prayer during public comment.

Either way, none of those three reasons justify Chairman Main excluding people from making a public comment at the board’s public meeting. Public Comment has been a part of the BOC meetings for decades and it is a practice that most county commissions, city councils, and other public boards do at every one of their regularly scheduled meetings.

The Board of Commissioners decided to have a work session discussing whether or not to have public comment on the agenda by passing a resolution making it a permanent part of the Board’s agenda. The work session is scheduled for this Wednesday.

Everyone concerned about their ability to express their opinion to the entire Board of Commissioners at the board’s regular meeting should show up to explain that to the commissioners, especially Chairman Main.

The Commissioners are the people’s employees and it is their job to listen to the citizens, not to silence them.