At Wednesday night’s Augusta County Board of Supervisors meeting, during “Matters to Be Presented By the Public,” former Board Chairman Tracy Pyles approached the podium to address the seven supervisors.
His subject: residents should not be held to three minutes to address their elected representatives because, as he noted, it wasn’t enough time to allow an adequate presentation of an issue. He was nearing the end of his remarks when the big-screen timer on the wall went off, signifying his three minutes were up.
Mr. Pyles continued speaking. He was interrupted by current Chairman Mike Shull who told him his time was up. Tracy said he wanted to finish and picked up where he left off. He was again reminded that his time had expired. Members of the audience encouraged the Board to allow him to finish and applauded that he was refusing to stop.
They were ignored.
There were three deputies in the room and two went to the podium and stood on either side of Mr. Pyles. He told the Board he was not going to leave until he finished his remarks. That went back and forth a bit more.
And so three deputies surrounded him and perp-walked the former four-term supervisor out of the room into the hallway. Tracy left the building, climbed into his car, and drove home.
In my opinion, several things could have happened to make this turn out better.
- Chairman Shull could have waived the time limit since there were only four or five speakers and allowed his predecessor the courtesy of finishing his remarks.
- A Board member could have made a motion to allow Mr. Pyles to finish.
- Since the Board suspended the rules two weeks ago during the meeting that censured Dr. Scott Seaton, and tonight they talked about suspending bylaws for the County Planning Commission (I never knew that was a thing and suspect it probably isn’t), why couldn’t they suspend the public speaking time limit rule to allow Mr. Pyles the opportunity to finish?
I emailed Mr. Pyles to ask if he would let me publish his remarks. Here is what he said:
“Sure. Hope it made the case for 1st Amendment protections. I had worked on this piece today and had just reread it prior to going up. The last section hit me emotionally. I relate to the sacrifices that have been made for our freedoms.”
Here are Tracy Pyles’ remarks addressing the Board. The part that he was not allowed to say because he was over his three-minute time limit is in bold.
“Proverbs 15:1 tells us, ‘A gentle answer turns away wrath but a harsh word stirs up anger.’
“I had a humdinger of an angry screed ready to go tonight but a Supervisor’s gentle conversation and a staffer’s nice smile at the fair last night has lanced my boiling and leaves me deflated. Though chastened, I will still speak my piece but hopefully a bit kinder and gentler.
“James Madison in writing the Federalist Paper #51 shared why the rules of government are not only top-down but also bottom-up.
“He wrote, ‘But what is government itself but the greatest of all reflections on human nature? If men were angels, no government would be necessary. If angels were to govern men, neither external nor internal controls on government would be necessary. In framing a government which is to be administered by men over men, the great difficulty lies in this: You must first enable the government to control the governed; and in the next place, oblige it to control itself.’
“Recent events involving this governing Board prove Madison’s assertion: men are less than angels. Not every person chosen to lead is fit to lead. Sometimes the people send dirt sandwiches when even a PB&J would seem heaven-sent.
“Jefferson, Madison, and Hamilton knew it wouldn’t be easy to get the men who think themselves best suited to lead, to also be humble enough to listen. So, they enshrined the people’s protections from government in the Bill of Rights.
“The First Amendment was one of the controls Madison felt would oblige the government to temper itself.
“ ‘Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof, or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press, or the right of people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.’
“Historically, the Augusta County Board of Supervisors stood firm in providing merely what was promised. Prior to you, over-regulated farmers, over-burdened taxpayers, angry neighbors, and worried parents could come before their chosen leaders and speak their piece. No more.
“Limiting speech to 3 minutes is to impose a law that hampers the freedom of speech and the redressing of grievances.
“That this Board should think no Supervisors before you wanted to quiet unpleasantness, wanted shorter meetings, or believed they had heard it all before, you would be wrong. What should have entered your minds was, ‘What stopped past Boards from muting citizens before now?’
“And it should shame you, to realize all the Boards before you concluded that a little inconvenience was worth holding Augusta County up as a place where government remained by, for, and of the people. The people, our people. (emphasis added)
“If it’s still there, I would ask you to read Douglas Bruce Cole’s obituary in the News Leader. Before he became a Viet Nam war hero, he was an often-barefooted kid I grew up with in Deerfield. The paper reveals as a young Marine, meaning not long past the peace and joy of Buffalo Gap, he was off to Viet Nam where ‘he received
two Purple Hearts, two Navy Achievement Medals with Combat Valor, a Combat Action Ribbon, and a Republic of Vietnam Gallantry Cross.’“What it doesn’t reveal is Bruce died of a form of leukemia. Nor does it note the causal relationship of exposure to Agent Orange to that disease.
“I have known heroes and known of heroes. Viet Nam veteran Judge Victor Ludwig’s cousin Graham Ludwig, once my best friend, he too, was a Viet Nam combat veteran who died too young from a neurological disease also associated with Agent Orange. He rests in Thornrose Cemetery.
“My son Weston is named for my Godfather, Weston Hoy, who was killed in action in Korea. My mother was left a 20-year-old single mom and widow, when Private Bruce Peters was felled by Nazi fire on D-Day.
“War takes its toll. It has victims and long-term pain. To go to war takes a belief that the cause is great, of greater value than one’s own life. The sacrifices of these men, and their families, in defense of our way of life, was for us.
“You dismiss the importance of their courage, when your weakness, decides how many grievances you are comfortable with. That is not how the Constitution is written nor intended.
“Please reverse yourself. Limit public comments only when needed so that all who are peacefully assembled to be heard, may be heard.
“And give thanks for a county son, Sgt. Bruce Cole, my friend, for his service and the freedom he fought and now died to secure. May he rest in his earned peace.”
I should have signed up to speak because I would gladly have ceded my three minutes to allow the rest of that message to be heard.
Cross-posted at BearingDrift.com