The Most Offensive Public Meeting Rules We’ve Ever Encountered –

Nason, Ill. (ECWd) –

We had the pleasure of attending a special meeting of the City of Nason, Illinois, last night.

Nason is a small city located in Jefferson County, with a population of around 200 people.

We attended this meeting because we came across a video of the Mayor of Nason, Michelle L. McKinney, basically threatening residents and having them removed from meetings because they were video recording the open public meeting.

There was a request for review sent to the Illinois Attorney General’s Public Access Counselor filed by one of the victims, alleging violations of the Open Meetings Act.

Mayor McKinney insisted the meeting ordinance came from the Illinois Municipal League, but I told her they would never have “approved” of any meeting ordinance with these provisions in them.

Just because you can make rules, doesn’t mean you can make any rules you want to make – any rules must enhance the public’s right to speak, not restrict that right.

Here are some of the most offensive items listed in the city’s public meeting ordinance:

• Must signup in advance and give your name, address, and subject of public comment
• Must give notice in writing, or by phone, at least 72 hours in advance of a meeting if you intend on recording or livestreaming the meeting
• Violations incur a fine of between $150 and $500 if the Mayor says you were disrupting the meeting, and summarily ejected from said meeting
• Mayor can limit the number of persons speaking on a specific topic

When questioned during public comment, Mayor McKinney stated that the ordinance would be amended to remove the city’s requirement of a 72 hour notice for video recording meetings.

During the meeting, she engaged in dialog with some residents, then when it appeared to us that she was beginning to lose the debate, she shut them down and told them they were disrupting the meeting, even asking the Sheriff’s Deputy (twice) to remove a resident from the meeting. The resident was not removed.

Additionally, Kirk spoke during public comment referencing the public comment policy, then I spoke. When I started speaking the Mayor told me that I could not talk about the public comment policy because Kirk had already talked about it. I continued talking, and she insisted I was disrupting the meeting, and had the secretary write my name down to be issued a fine. I volunteered my name and address because the fine is not lawful, there was no meeting disruption, and I doubt the Mayor will follow through with issuing any fines – I beleive she uses that as an intimidation tactic against the resident.

Watch the video below, more information will be forthcoming about the City of Nason.

We apologize for the quality of the audio, sometimes there is substantial static, but you can still hear most of what is being said.