The Butte County Commission voted to adopt new public comment policies that basically shut down citizens coming forward to express their grievances, shortened each person’s time from 5 minutes to 3 minutes, not allowing tax payers to address any particular commissioner, and moved public comment to the end of the meeting instead of a specified time at the beginning of the meeting. Commissioner Erk expressed his concerns about portions of it, noting how parts of it are difficult to uphold, and how overall it’s flirting with the First Amendment rights we all hold. We would like to ask why the State’s Attorney didn’t do anything concerning this level of attempt at violating the free speech of tax payers, along with our Sheriff remaining silent, and we’d like to express our appreciation to Commissioner Chad Erk for his dedication to the citizens of Butte County.
