LETTER: Harbeck will restore right of Grafton citizens to be heard

To Ozaukee Press:

Lisa Uribe Harbeck has many years of experience and is the most qualified candidate for Grafton village president. She believes that a resident should have the right to ask questions at a meeting after an agenda item has been presented and is being considered by the board, before the Village Board makes a decision. Everyone has a right to free speech and should be able to exercise that right.

Under our current leadership, citizens can only address the board at the very beginning of the meeting, before the board even gets to the agenda item that they are interested in and concerned about. And the current president has installed a digital timer on the wall that counts down and buzzes at two minutes to tell you your time is up.

When the board eventually gets to the agenda item that the residents have shown up for, they are prohibited from raising their hand and asking questions or providing any additional input. Residents who have attempted to talk have been told to sit down and be quiet, gaveled,and several times threatened with removal.

Under the prior leadership when I was a village trustee, citizens were allowed to speak or ask questions when a topic was up for discussion. This never caused any problems. In fact, many times our residents brought up things or asked questions that the board was overlooking or had not thought about. Now our residents can’t do that.

Lisa will make sure that these rights are restored.           

Dave Antoine

Grafton