To the Editor:
The interaction between the city government and citizens who choose to participate in public debate has never been more debased than it has become since our last local election. Even so I find the recent visit from a police officer to a gentleman who testified at the most recent Planning Commission meeting shocking beyond belief.
Because of a law passed by City Council a few years ago that limits terms on boards and commissions, we now have a Planning Commission where all members have only been serving a short time. Simply put they don’t know how to act. They are nothing short of imperious in their behavior toward citizens. I have largely stopped attending Planning Commission meetings. I did watch the podcast of the May 3 meeting. It is still available on the city website at this time.
The gentleman who was later visited because of “complaints” used rather blunt language and was less diplomatic than I would have tried to be. He made no threat toward anyone unless criticism of city staff is to be interpreted as a threat. His presentation was entirely coherent. Over the years, I have seen occasions when mentally ill individuals are attracted to public gatherings. They can seem threatening because you don’t know what they might do next. This was not the case here. The gentleman was a homeowner in the neighborhood near the Old Colony and had a clear and rational stake in the proceeding, and every right to speak on it.
In short, we have a case where criticism of city staff was defined as threatening and worthy of a police visit. That’s the very description of how a totalitarian state works. This kind of behavior must stop at once and beyond that, we must punish those who were guilty of instigating it. They are the ones who represent a serious threat to Alexandria.
Katy Cannady
Alexandria