Let Public Speak, Voters Decide

We sympathize with Mayor Mike Markey’s dismay at the prospect of a Sig Alert of three-minute campaign speeches clogging up the “public comment” period that opens Thousand Oaks City Council meetings each Tuesday. But sitting through an extra half-hour of talk seems like a fair and easy way to give the 11 challengers a fraction of the exposure enjoyed by the two incumbents in the race.

Serious candidates will use these moments in the spotlight to make constructive statements about how they would handle the issues at hand. Voters, not Mayor Markey, should reject those who waste their time on the petty name-calling that so far has dominated this campaign.

In tightening its campaign rules last summer, the city of Thousand Oaks made it tougher for aspiring council members to overcome the natural advantage enjoyed by incumbents. One way to even those odds would be to give each candidate free air time on one of the city’s cable channels. This was proposed by the city’s Blue Ribbon Campaign Finance Reform Committee but remains under study.

Another way is for challengers to take advantage of the public comment period that opens the weekly City Council meetings, which are broadcast on the city’s TOTV cable Channel 10. This is well known by the current field of contenders, most of whom are familiar voices at the public-comment podium.

With the election just eight Tuesdays away, that forum is becoming increasingly popular--and increasingly political. The council has canceled more than half of its remaining pre-election meetings for one reason or another; it should allow full exercise of political speech at the few that remain.

Mayor Markey asked the district attorney whether he has the authority to silence any candidate who tries to give a campaign speech in that forum. The district attorney replied that citizens have great latitude to speak about issues within the jurisdiction of the City Council. While the mayor might be justified in hushing a candidate who is simply “speaking about himself” and “promoting his own candidacy,” the district attorney advised, “It may be difficult to determine when a political candidate’s comments are prohibited and when they are permissible.”

As we did last year when Mayor Markey proposed switching off the TV cameras during the public comment period, we advise him to take a deep breath, sit back and let the public speak. The benefit of airing legitimate concerns far outweighs the sting of a little overzealous criticism. Voters deserve to hear for themselves what each of the aspiring City Council members has to offer. Deciding who is using the time to offer fresh, useful ideas and who is using it to spout irrelevant venom is a job for the voters, not for Mayor Markey.