Should a member of the audience be able to usurp our
meetings, utilizing antics and shenanigans that are disruptive, divisive, and
antagonistic?
…..I think not, and it is for that reason that I’m
astonished by what transpired and what was allowed to occur at last night’s
school board meeting. I spoke to the
board’s attorney, secretary, and to the superintendent of schools about what
was coming. This was not a surprise, yet
it still was allowed to occur.
Astonishing…..
Because it was my turn in the rotation to select a guest to
bring the pre-meeting prayer, I selected a Rabbi from Pensacola’s Temple
Beth-El. Rabbi Joel Fleecop was
delivering a very respectful prayer to those of us assembled for the meeting,
and he was rudely interrupted by a member of the audience who began chanting
and praying loudly on a rug right next to the podium.
A member of the audience that spoke subsequently chastised
the Chair for not stopping this loud and distracting stunt; the speaker said
that because of the chanting, he could not hear the Rabbi’s prayer.
Nothing was done to stop this chanting, which was the first
disappointment of the night.
Later, when this individual who had interrupted the invited
Rabbi had his three minutes to speak, he came right out and started insulting
me and my invited guest, deridingly referring to the Rabbi with an anti-Semitic
barb, calling him a “Token-Jew”
nothing was done to derail this man and his ad hominem attacks.
When this member of the audience insulted me, insinuating that I “used”
my guest as a prop, I maintained my bearing, fully expecting some leadership
from the dais and the chair to shut down this personal attack against me.
Didn’t happen.
We have a rule against addressing board members other
than the Chair, and this infraction was not addressed.
We also have a rule against personal attacks, which also
went unenforced.
A total loss of control.
Very
disappointing.
It is one thing for this
individual that loves disrupting our meetings to try to push the envelope—I
half expect him to do so.
The big disappointment is that he was allowed to do so in
blatant contravention to board rules of decorum-----that I did not expect.
So when this person got finished insulting me, my guest, and
then he decided to start reciting a
