Legislative Town Hall Meeting

Last night at MCC a town hall meeting was conducted by Sen. Pam Althoff and State Representatives Jack Franks and Mike Tryon. This was the third town hall meeting in nine months. The focus last night was the Illinois Budget and the cuts facing organizations and businesses.

Aside from starting late and getting out-of-control time-wise right from the start, the meeting was worthwhile. Many speakers had good information for the three elected representatives. Some merely rehashed what services they provide. Some were specific in their requests, such as a cap on diesel fuel taxes. Blago took many hits for refusing to release State funds for projects approved by the legislature and in the budget. Is he retaliating against our McHenry County legislators for representing the People and not kowtowing to his personal wishes?peakers were reminded often that they should keep their remarks brief. Ten- and 15-minute blocks of time were allotted to numerous groupings. Time restraints were generally ignored by speakers. A few, thankfully, stayed right on target and spoke clearly, succinctly and briefly.

When five speakers were to present their remarks in a 10-minute period, each was to have two minutes. In too many cases, each thought her or his remarks to be so important that 4-5-6 minutes were used. One speaker took eight (that's EIGHT) minutes, in spite of two warnings from the platform.

In future town hall meetings, the legislators should be on the stage on-time, not glad-handing around the auditorium, speaking to one person or another, while several hundred waited for the program to start. The town hall meeting should start on time. The late-comers can enter quietly and take their seats. Or perhaps door guards could just close the doors at the announced starting time and then, 10 minutes later, allow late-comers to enter during a brief pause in the program.

Further, a time-keeper should be used right from the beginning of the meeting. The elected representatives know by now that speakers will get long-winded, as they speak passionately about their organizations and needs. Set a timer for two minutes. When the bell dings, stop the person speaking. I mean, Stop them. Don't let them get by with "I'm almost done" and then allow them to go on for two more minutes. Interrupt them; thank them; stop them. They can email further remarks and/or make an appointment to speak at greater length with their senator or representative.

Within about 90 minutes, the meeting was running 45 minutes late. Finally a time-keeper was appointed, but all he could do was display a handmade timecard with faint printing on it. Apparently, no one had brought a heavy black marker.

The meeting was video-taped. Because the meeting was four hours long, I don't know the plans for availability or distribution. Wouldn't it be nice if a DVD would be available for $5.00?