Burow: Hold City Commission Meetings In Person

I attended the City Commission meeting on August 17, where at the end of the meeting, Mayor Kelly gave a very passionate comment about how scared and fearful he was to be in the room and that he would poll the commission about holding future meetings virtually. The commission voted 4-1 to hold future meetings virtually and not in person.

I appreciated Commissioner Tryon’s sentiment that the people’s business ought to be settled face-to-face. I would have voted the same way. The voting public deserves to have facetime with the officials they have elected to represent them.

Because I took Mayor Kelly at his word that he did not “feel safe” holding meetings in person, I was rather surprised to see him in public for a ribbon-cutting yesterday with Senator Jon Tester. The mayor was not wearing a mask.

I couldn’t help but wonder, given how unsafe Kelly thinks it is to venture out in public these days, why on Earth he found it necessary to be physically present for something that was ceremonial and didn’t require government action.

Was it the KRTV cameras that offered Kelly solace?

Or was it the presence of Senator Tester, a vaccinated and sophisticated leftist (just as Mayor Kelly is)?

It warrants mentioning that the upcoming City Commission meeting was set to be a contentious one. RV parking is on the agenda, and there were an awful lot of folks who aren’t happy with the City who wanted to attend, and to rightfully speak in person to their government.

Now they cannot, in large part because the mayor, who, as he tells is, just doesn’t “feel safe.”

But just look at him yesterday.

We can do better than this.

• Category: City Commission