Marty Work, who has been dealing with a faulty retaining wall at his home in the Greens at Lee's Hill for years, regularly speaks at meetings. FILE/SCOTT NEVILLE/THE FREE LANCE-STAR

Attempt to stymie public speakers fails on tie vote

Date published: 9/28/2007

By DAN TELVOCK

Armed with a binder of legal documents, research and determination, Marty Work has three minutes a month to speak his case.

He complains to the Spotsylvania Board of Supervisors about alleged cronyism relating to "construction failures" involving a crumbling retaining wall by his home in the Lee's Hill subdivision. The wall has been the center of several legal battles between Work, the developer and the Lee's Hill homeowners association.

Work speaks slowly, carefully uttering each word. He often continues past the three-minute limit.

His speeches have struck a nerve.

"He has been coming to the Board of Supervisors, telling us the same thing over and over and over and over," Supervisor Emmitt Marshall said in a telephone interview.

Some supervisors use the "public presentation" period to get a soda or read their agenda. When Work runs over his time limit, someone on the dais asks him to "wrap it up."

"May I continue?" Work often replies.

Sometimes, he ignores the order. Once finished, he hands over his binder to the county clerk and reminds supervisors that he'll be back next month.

But people who speak at board meetings about the same subject may be further limited.

On Tuesday, supervisors' efforts to limit the number of times a resident can speak about the same subject failed on a tie vote. The original proposal was to limit a person to one common speech every six months, unless a majority of supervisors votes to suspend the rule. An effort to soften the rule to three months failed on a 3-3 vote. Marshall said this week the proposal to change the bylaws may reappear on an agenda soon.

In Fredericksburg, residents have a five-minute time limit to address City Council; in Stafford, it's a three-minute limit for individuals and five for groups in public comments before the Board of Supervisors.

Spotsylvania's proposal hit the American Civil Liberties Union's radar this week and raised the eyebrows of other people who speak at county board meetings.

Work said the effort to stymie his monthly speeches bothers him.

"What nerve have I managed to hit?" he asked. "I've never seen anything so stupid in my life."

Al King, who has used the three minutes to criticize county officials' handling of the controversial Harrison Connector Road by the Spotsylvania Towne Centre, said he gasped when he watched the board's debate unfold on television.

"This motion is totally antithetical to the concept that the writers of the Constitution had in mind," he said. "I was stunned. I knew nothing about it. It was an amendment to their bylaws? Something this significant they were trying to cover under the guise of their bylaws?"

American Civil Liberties Union of Virginia Executive Director Kent Willis said the county isn't required to provide time for public presentations unless it's a public hearing.

"Those kinds of restrictions, while obviously violating the spirit of free speech, are constitutional," Willis said. "But if they are going to allow people to speak for three minutes, they can't then discriminate on the basis of viewpoint. That is a violation of free speech."

Supervisor Chris Yakabouski, who voted against the measure, wondered how anyone could determine if a person is talking about the same subject each month. If supervisors don't like what the person is saying, "well, tough."

"Give me a break," he said. "It is once a month. It is not like it's a daily occurrence."

A motion to limit speakers who talk about the same subject to one speech every three months died on a 3-3 vote. Supervisors Emmitt Marshall, Hap Connors and T.C. Waddy voted for it. Supervisors Chris Yakabouski, Jerry Logan, and Vince Onorato voted against it. Supervisor Gary Jackson was absent.

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Date published: 9/28/2007

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