Council turns off public - Letter to the Editor

Letter published in the Pueblo Chieftain - Sunday 11-25-2007

Pueblo City Council's recent decision to no longer allow TV coverage of the public forum portion of the council meetings is censorship, plain and simple.

These same politicians who stood on street corners begging for our vote now do not want to face the voting public when we present problems in our community. For whatever reason, once they are elected they suddenly think of themselves as royalty instead of elected public servants. This is at every level of government.

The definition of elected official is still public servant. What part of this do they not understand?
I say to council, it is easy: Listen to those who elected you.

I am not naive and I do understand politics, but it is time we get back to basics. If you are going to get involved in politics, you should be willing to be accountable to those who elected you. Five minutes per voter who exercises his or her privilege to visit with you should not be a problem.

Stand up and show you are accountable for your actions. Stop this censorship. The interested viewing public is intelligent enough to decide the credibility of those who come before you. Just do your job.

Bill Boggs - Pueblo