June 28, 2011.
After another long round of only cursory look at the SWMP and related ordinances, the mayor of Norman informed the citizens that Norman is a no clapping zone. To get her point across, she appointed additional police officers to guard the exits at this night's meeting. She hung an ominous (4 ft. x 5 ft.) behavior instruction billboard behind her head while citizens spoke. After the first citizen's speech opposing the plan, applause began, and the mayor almost became unglued with indignation from her chair. The applause Nazis have arrived.
Well, the WQPZ Overlay District ordinance was removed from the agenda. According to Aaron Stiles, a state representative, it was due to the council's inadequate adherence to civil process. Well, that is fortunate, but the citizens of Norman will have to be vigilant to discover it when it reappears.
According to others, the removal of that ordinance greatly reduced the efficacy of the plan. All kinds of people saluted the great spirit of compromise that had been had between a private group of builders and the council. No compromise was offered to any private citizen that I know of.
There was lots of well spoken words by many people at both this and the previous Thursday's planning commission meeting. Unscientifically, more than 80% of those speaking opposed the council's plans.
The city council controls the meeting agenda. They control the application of the bureaucratic rules designed to keep them in control. They control the list of invited testimony, testimony that is always in favor of their plans, and never against it. They control citizen participation, and speeches are strictly limited to five minutes, and no overage is permitted. The public meetings are not and have not been discourse, or discussion, or debate. The council members have the final say, and can speak for as long as they like. The public meetings serve almost no public service or common good.
One of the council members stated that city of Norman was sort of unique in that it provides the "luxury" of allowing its citizens to speak out in such meetings. I'm glad she pointed that out, aren't you?
As one council-member-elect essentially said, the common good does not exist without liberty.