THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, October 19, 1994 TAG: 9410190446
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B01 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY FRANCIE LATOUR, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: CHESAPEAKE LENGTH: Medium: 75 lines
Bowing to the pressure of petition drives, press conferences and a citizen rally, the City Council voted to reverse itself on a rule change that had pushed nonagenda speakers off-camera and out of its formal meetings.
``The people of this great city have spoken, and we will not turn deaf ears on those individuals,'' said Vice Mayor Arthur L. Dwyer, as he moved to repeal an amendment to the rules that he had spearheaded 21 days earlier.
While the council's unanimous decision was not a complete about-face - nonagenda items will now be heard at the end of council sessions rather than at the beginning - residents will again speak during the formal council session, with city staff available and television cameras running.
Dwyer said the vote reflected the council's responsiveness to residents' concerns and a commitment to ending the gridlock that has plagued past councils.
``Quite frankly,'' Dwyer said following the vote, ``we don't need an issue like this dragging Chesapeake down. . . . The key thing is, the citizens are our bosses, and they told us what they wanted council to do.''
The decision, which was not slated as an agenda item, came minutes after more than 50 residents and civic league leaders had gathered in a rally outside City Hall to protest the amendment, calling it a gag rule that stifled freedom of speech.
``I think they had no choice,'' said Chesapeake Taxpayers Association head Edward Weidner, who predicted the reversal.
``I don't think the council has any idea what kind of sleeping bear they've awoken from hibernation,'' Weidner said.
The controversy drew not only council gadflies and civic leaders, but also residents making their first trip to City Hall.
``We just elected a new council and hoped things would change, but it's all gone downhill,'' said Barbara Sullivan, a resident of Cedar Lakes. ``So I guess next election, we'll have to change again.''
The vote also followed a press conference held by Chesapeake NAACP President March Cromuel.
``I can't do it on the cameras in chambers,'' he noted, ``so I had to call cameras myself to express the NAACP's dissatisfaction with our elected leaders.''
As recently as last week, council members had proposed a roving monthly work session in attempts to quell citizen opposition to the rule change.
In a speech that introduced the measure, Councilman John M. de Triquet called the presence of television cameras a ``nonissue'' that put too much emphasis on the form, not the substance, of council's deliberation with the public.
But as protesters arrived to see whether the council would withdraw the rule, some said the importance of television access could not be denied.
``Citizens want their TV,'' said Gene Waters, president of the Chesapeake Council of Civic Organizations. ``It's not the council's TV, it's our TV, and that's the bottom-line issue here.'' ILLUSTRATION: Staff color photo by JOSEPH JOHN KOTLOWSKI
Edward Weidner, head of the Chesapeake Taxpayers Association, speaks
to reporters outside Chesapeake City Hall on Tuesday about City
Council's decision to reverse itself on a rule change that had
pushed nonagenda speakers off-camera and out of formal meetings.
THE NEW RULE
Nonagenda items will be heard at the end of council sessions.
Residents will speak during the formal council session. City
staff will be available.
Television cameras will be running.
KEYWORDS: CHESAPEAKE CITY COUNCIL
by CNB