Contrast in meetings: Wdk. vs. Island Lake

I was amused last night at the Woodstock City Council meeting, when I contrasted the manner in which it is conducted with a meeting last week of the Village Board of Island Lake (Ill.).

When the audience in Island Lake disagreed with Mayor Debbie Herrmann's threat to call "an officer" if a Trustee kept talking, the audience broke its silence with cries of "Out of Order." And a few other choice words.

The discussion had become somewhat heated, and two-three board members were doing more talking and less listening. No one was respecting another's right to speak. (Maybe I should take my talking stick to their next meeting and offer it to them.)

There was no admonishment from the mayor for the audience to keep quiet.

And last night, at the Woodstock City Council?

The audience mostly sat there, like good little boys and girls, until one point when things got out of control at the front of the room. The audience objected and let the Council know it.

And they got hammered back into their silent mode. Wow! How easily we all cower.

The People of Woodstock are not kindergartners, to be ordered into silence. Yes, decorum is important and necessary, but the City Council chambers are not a courtroom and the mayor is not a judge.

The City Council needs to get prompt feedback when it's out of order. And the only way for it to get that prompt feedback is for the audience to object - on the spot. Ramblings like mine the next door or Letters to the Editor are insufficient.

So, people of Woodstock, don't act like bumps on a log. If you have something to say, make sure you say it.