Harmony vs. candor

The system of checks and balances is one of the distinguishing features of representative government, but it cannot be effective if it is not pursued with vigor by each branch of government. In the view of at least one Montgomerian who can speak with authority on the subject, ‘that isn’t happening on the City Council. 

Willie Peak, the former council president. makes a convincing case in charging that the body isn’t functioning as a public forum for debate of issues or as a check against the executive branch of city government. Harmony in government is desirable only if it does not come at the expense of free debate and honest disagreement. Council meetings that become mere rubber-stamping sessions deprive the people of the city of the public airing of questions which they have a right to expect. 

Peak sees a decided lack of public involvement in council decisions and two recent actions support that view. He noted that no public hearings were held on the decision to increase the city’s gasoline tax or on the changing of Cleveland Avenue to Rosa Parks Avenue. Even though there was considerable merit in both decisions, more public discussion clearly was called for. The council now regularly suspends its rules, which require ordinances to be read al two meetings before being adopted, and passes ordinances on the first reading, with little or no debate. Decisions often are reached before the meetings, in private, a practice which renders the public meetings all but meaningless. 

Peak’s successor as council president, Alice Reynolds, says the practice allows the body to conduct business “without making a public spectacle of itself.” She says she prefers to ask her questions about city policies in Mayor Emory Folmar’s office, where they “can talk out whatever differences there might be.” 

Council meetings are the proper forum for such questions. They should be asked – and answered – in public so as to allow citizens to hear and participate in debate. 

To turn city government into a closed, private operation involving a handful of people is to pay an exorbitant price for harmony, or the perception of harmony. Lively debate is preferable, greatly so. 

Peak’s insightful comments bear consideration by every Montgomerian and should prompt inquiries to their representatives on the City Council.