To the Editor:
Chesterfield County Board of Supervisors (BOS) and Planning Commission (PC) meetings are currently being held “virtually” and audio broadcast on the county TV channel and on-line, due to the Covid-19 emergency. In a normal “live” meeting, with the public physically present, we have the opportunity to speak on both scheduled and unscheduled matters for up to three minutes. With the current “virtual” format, there is no opportunity to comment during the meetings. And for some unknown reason, public comments submitted before the meetings are either “summarized” by BOS and PC members, or not given at all during their meetings. Here are some examples.
Censorship example 1 – BOS meeting May 2020: The four Citizen Comments on Unscheduled Matters were not read aloud during the meeting nor were the topics of those comments even mentioned. At least one of those comments (mine) addressed this very issue.
Censorship example 2 – PC meeting May 2020, Case 20SN0526: An e-mail submitted by Sean Collins – Regional manager of Government Affairs for the Aircraft Owners & Pilots Association, representing 9,000 Virginia members – opposing this development near the Chesterfield Airport was not read, summarized, or even referenced during the meeting. It raised concerns Mr. Collins has about negative impacts the project could have on the airport’s future viability. However, during the meeting, a Mr. Lewis, from Delta Consultants, gave verbal comments and a long verbal analysis of support for this project, prefaced by a lengthy list of his credentials.
Censorship Example 3 – PC meeting May 2020, Case 20SN0526: The names of those who submitted comments prior to the meeting “for and against” were read by Commissioner Hylton, briefly summarizing them as he read. By his count, there were 89 comments supporting the case and 102 comments opposing. In a “live” meeting, those citizens would have up to three minutes each to state their views. His “summary” took less than ten minutes. In addition, two separate counts by citizens of the comments posted on the county’s website differ from the counts given by Dr. Hylton: Those counts show only 58 supporting the case, and many of those who express support are relatives, friends, and neighbors of one of the landowners in the case. In a live meeting, or a “virtual” one where the comments are allowed via phone or YouTube during the meeting, there would be no question as to how many support or oppose, or as to their level of support or opposition. Other counties are doing this (Fairfax is one example).
There are many more examples of Chesterfield County censorship of Public comments in these “virtual” meetings – just listen to the April and May BOS and PC meetings on the County Web site, if you can find them.
Inquiries to the BOS and PC have been met with the answer that “full public comments are available on the county web site.” Well, in addition to difficulty in navigating the web site to find the comments, some citizens do not have computer access. And the libraries have been closed.
Besides, this is really no answer at all. The question is: Why are public comments being summarized or comment topics not given at all during “virtual” meetings? To that question, all I have heard is “crickets.”
Mike Uzel
