By Reggie Connell, Managing Editor
In a democratic society, the voices of the community are essential to effective governance. However, the current public comment format for the Apopka City Council meetings sidelines these voices by putting them at the end of the agenda, rendering them less influential in the decision-making process. But then, the Council takes the extra step of turning off the video feed it leaves on during the meeting so that there is no beneficial City record of their comments.
The Apopka Voice does not claim the City's action is unconstitutional or without its reasons. We have heard commenters sometimes get personal, insulting, and far off-topic. However, being within your constitutional rights and not liking some of the remarks does not come close to justifying the current action of censorship.
It's time for Apopka to rethink this structure and move public comments back to the beginning of the meeting while also ensuring that these important contributions are video-recorded for greater transparency and accessibility.
Until then, The Apopka Voice will publish the highlights of public comments as they appear on Commissioner Nick Nesta's Seat #4 Facebook page live feed after the meeting concludes and the video is turned off. Public comments are too essential to the community's discourse to have them dissolve at the end of a multi-hour meeting without being heard by anyone except the Council and those watching on Nesta's Facebook live post.
Here are the highlights from public comments for the February 5th Meeting:
Dawn McCranie
Dawn McCranie follows up on the Border Lake flooding issue
Silvestri Investments Property Manager Dawn McCranie, who Apopka Mayor Bryan Nelson invited in an email to attend and present during public comments, expressed her concerns about flooding in the Border Lake region.
"As you are aware, there was serious flooding due to Hurricane Milton throughout the City of Apopka and some areas of Orange/Seminole County," she said. I literally walked the property in two feet of water. There were cars that were getting detoured from both sides of Piedmont Road into our plaza. There was quite a lot of pressure on our parking lot. We are in dire need of assistance from the city/county on how to rectify this situation."
This developing story will be updated in a future edition of The Apopka Voice.
Leroy Bell disappointed in DEI tactics
Leroy Bell, an Apopka resident, former candidate for the Apopka City Commission, is a frequent speaker during public comments. He close his four minutes with his displeasure about how the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Committee was handled in Apopka.
"...the sad part about it is I don't understand why people would set up and say, let's celebrate Black History Month and turn around (and) get rid of the DEI committee here in Apopka," he said. "That's a shame. Indeed, there have been times, especially when DEI had been blamed for everything and everybody going along with it. In (Washington DC), for example, a helicopter crashed into an airplane, killing 27 innocent people and service members. Your president got up and blamed the DEI for the crash. That's a shame. And you ought to be ashamed to get rid of the DEI committee. And just like I said, nobody kicks against it. But a couple of Mondays ago at the Martin Luther King Parade, everybody said they were proud. You ought to be ashamed."
Jean Street thanks the City for Warming Centers
Jean Street, a resident of Apopka, praised the City for opening the warming centers in Apopka during the cold weather days in January.
"I want to just thank the mayor and the community for supporting the warming centers that we had," she said. "That week was really cold. And we were able to open up the warming center. Very much appreciated. I don't even remember what the number was. Do you? Do you remember the number of people that attended? It was probably a low of nine or ten and a high of 16. Yeah. So, you know, different. Yeah, most of the people went to Matthew's Hope and attended there. They were very much overcrowded, and they needed some overflow. And so it was great that we were able to open it for not just the unhoused, but also for the people that are needy."
Rod Olsen is critical of the public comment format
Rod Olsen, an Apopka resident and former Rock Springs Ridge Homeowners Association president, is a frequent speaker during public comments. He praised the City for its Saturday Sounds Concert Series, but expressed concern over the upcoming budget, and called for a moratorium on development.
Olsen used most of his time criticizing the City Council's public comment policy.
"With regard to public comment, I'm going to beat this horse until it gets moved," he said. "Four hours. Four hours people had to wait. People have work responsibilities and other responsibilities. When it was on the front end of the agenda, I could say, 'I'm going to take a late lunch today, pop in, do my thing. And get out.' That's no longer feasible. It's at the end. And you have to have Commissioner Nesta record it. And it takes a go. Pop residents have all those responsibilities at home. We need to make it user-friendly. You ran on themes of transparency, family, faith, fairness, being responsive to taxpayers, and fiscal responsibility. Well, part of that is hearing from your taxpayers, hearing from people. And it needs to be moved up. We should be at the top of your agenda, not the bottom and off the record. Requiring a pop of residents to jump through hoops to get a copy of the voice is stupid. You work for us. Putting us at the end of the agenda tells us you don't care about what we think. Public comment at the end of the agenda, after live feed is cut off, limits, restricts and denies the ability of us to participate in our government. And in violation of our First Amendment rights. We are not an afterthought. We will not allow you to keep us as an afterthought. Political actions have political consequences."
The next Apopka City Council meeting is on February 19th. Thanks to those who waited the entirety of the meeting to speak. Your thoughts and opinions are important to the community.
Photos by Kayley Hayden (@KayleyHaydenPhotography), Interning Photographer for The Apopka Voice.
