Gary "Moody" is one of those citizens who have his hand in everything and wants to run the city government. Many citizens are involved with city government. What makes this person different is that he rudely interrupted the Mayor during negotiations with the council.
Gary refused to heed to the Mayor’s repeated request that he be silent. And the Mayor did ask repeatedly for him to stop. Gary continued to argue that the Mayor was using inaccurate facts. The real problem is that Gary refused to talk in private or some other means of communicating his facts to the Mayor and wanted to take charge of the meeting and the entire room. That will never fly with any Mayor … after all they are Mayor.
Did the Mayor use false facts? Maybe but to argue in public is not going to get your point across, if you are asked to be silent. Nor will any Mayor take being called a liar in public more than once Gary did so several times. Paris did ask Gary "Moody" to be silent and noted that he had facts from the same source as he did. Gary kept going and that got under the Mayors skin.
“Public comment portion of this meeting has been closed”, the Mayor repeatedly states. Gary snaps back, “Fred … Chill out. Don’t you want the true facts”? Again the Mayor tells Moody the public input portion has been closed and request that he be silent. This gave Gary more than adequate warning that he was getting under the Mayors skin and disrupting the meeting.
Gary goes on, “Chill out … I’m trying to help and you ……”. The Mayor stops him short and loudly speaks, “If Mr. "Moody" does not stop talking I want him removed from the room”. That got Gary’s attention and silence reigned over the audience.
Was the Mayor out of line to order the removal of a citizen? If he gave no warning then that would not be proper. But with the opportunities he gave this person, one would have to say no, the Mayor was not out of line. But this person was asked several times to remain silent so the meeting could continue.
Citizens have a right to be heard and that is what the public input portion of a meeting is about. Does the politicians listen, usually no they don’t. But then you always have the option of writing email or a letter. Writing public letters to the Mayors office and also to news services is one of the best ways of getting your point across.
