Albuquerque City Council Impose New Rules on Public Meetings

So by now we should all be familiar with the situation in Albuquerque, where citizens fed up with police brutality have started taking over city council meetings and issuing citizens' arrest warrants for the police chief. At the last city council meeting they forced the officials to basically flee from the enraged citizens, who demand nothing more than justice.

Now, after that debacle, the city came forward with an answer.

Are they going to curb police violence? Are they going to recompense the victims of the police brutality? Are they going to punish the officers involved?

Of course not.

What they will do, however, is impose more rules on the people of Albuquerque.

From the original article here

New rules will also be in force in an effort to prevent the meeting from turning into a free for all, including;

- No signs, props or other campaign material, except that which can be presented on the overhead projector, will be allowed in the Council chambers.

- Only the person speaking during public comment periods may stand at the podium or in the area around it, with the exception of those who need a translator or assistance.

- The two-minute limit for speakers will be strictly enforced.

- There will be no tolerance for disruptive public outbursts.

So let's be totally clear about what's happening here.

The local government in Albuquerque has an out-of-control police department that's committed 40 shootings since 2010, 25 of them fatal. They have a horrendous public image problem and a contingent of politically active citizenry who demand change.

So their answer is to try and enforce more rules... not to curb this horrid police brutality, but to eliminate the public's right to protest.

There's a Taoist maxim that says the best physician treats disease before it even manifests in the body. A mediocre physician treats it once it takes form. And a crap physician fruitlessly attempts to squelch disease by attacking the symptoms.

What kind of physicians do you think we've got running the Albuquerque government?

Truth is, repression is never the answer. You can't legislate out the mistrust of government and police that's growing in these people's hearts. But all these criminals in government know is force and violence, attempting to impose their will on the people instead of working with them to find a harmonious resolution.

What these idiots in Albuquerque government don't get is you can't stop a disease by treating the symptoms. Every action has an equal and opposite reaction. More repression only causes more discontent.

The will of the people is a tide. It can't be held back.

And because the government officials in Albuquerque don't understand how to really treat this problem, they only keep making it worse.

Sounds like they are running a new Gestapo there.

The citizens there need to clean house.

a reply to: JonButtonIII

Oh that is classic!

So let me get this straight Albuquerque City Council...

First, your police departments members have shot unarmed persons, and persons who did not pose a legitimate threat to life at the time of their deaths, have used undue force, and have a whole host of totally unanswered accusations at their door, that no one seems to want to adequately answer for or take responsibility for.

This is oppression.

Now, because people are protesting, and attempting to get their grievances dealt with in an effective and immediate way, rather than waiting and waiting for a response that will not be forthcoming, you are imposing more legislation on the citizens, and not taking any action against those who have caused the issue in the first place?

That is also oppression.

The ACC, need to get their head from without the confines of their colons, and begin to actually DEAL with the complaints against the force, excise the problem officers, and go about it without a single days further idiocy and procrastination. If they do not, the city will suffer.

Oh, and one more point about the way these meetings are run. There is NO issue worth having an opinion on, which can be argued in less than a quarter hour. Two minute speaking times are not enough, and I would warrant that any issue which can be explained and expanded upon in that time frame, is probably of no importance. Furthermore, it is not for the City Council to decide how a public meeting ought to be run. That is down to the person bringing the issues to the councils attention to decide, for the rest of the public to decide. The idea of being on the council, is to facilitate the needs of citizens and businesses, and as council persons it is their job to ensure that the will of the people is enacted.

I think the council persons have misidentified their position as being one of power. A properly run council is nothing but a slave to the will of the people it represents. A council person should have no agenda of their own, owe no favours to any but the private citizens of their area of influence, and MUST, if the system is to have any value, be subservient toward the people. Anything else is tyranny.

My advice to the ACC, is to look at their hands, and see chain about their wrists, to look at their feet, and see shackles around their ankles, to look into the face of the citizens running these protests, and see the face of their master, in every face in that room. They should know their damned place.

a reply to: JonButtonIII

According to Harry Reid and the liberal boot lickers, the people of Albuquerque are domestic terrorists.

How dare they oppose government violence.

No signs, props or other campaign material, except that which can be presented on the overhead projector, will be allowed in the Council chambers.

Looks now is the time to invest in battery powered overhead projectors. Did they ever stop to think that actually listening to the people would be a way to stop these meetings from becoming a free for all?

a reply to: buster2010

Hahaha, I don't think the Albuquerque officials are really thinking at all. Bottom line is that these criminals in government are insane if they think they can shut up the people simply by making more rules.

The people have had enough, and when they discover that all those precious "laws" are just scribbles of meaningless ink written by people so vile that we shouldn't trust them with our children (not to mention the direction of our society!), the game they've long been using to control us will be done.

The tyrants in government have lost control of the dialogue, and are swiftly losing their illusion of righteous authority. Free humanity is rising up against our criminal "leaders." Soon, all bets will be off.

a reply to: TrueBrit

Sadly, oppression is swiftly becoming the primary condition of Amerika.

When the government can no longer hide behind the perception of righteous authority, when it no longer has morality on its side and CLEARLY doesn't have the people's best interest at heart, the only way tyrants can keep control is through naked force.

Thankfully, the people in Albuquerque have rediscovered something that the rest of us in this country should have long ago figured out. There's 300,000,000 of us... and only a scant handful of them.

When we stand together and say ENOUGH of the immorality, enough of the tyranny, enough of the oppression, we'll shatter the chains of unjust law like they're make of tin.

I have been doing my part about Albq from home in California. Being a balloonist, I am trying to convince other balloonists to boycott the Albq Balloon Festival. I am using our email boards to try to stir some sympathy and get people to send Albq denial to enter letters.

Sadly, most could give a crap. Makes me sad.

originally posted by: JonButtonIII
What they will do, however, is impose more rules on the people of Albuquerque.

New rules will also be in force in an effort to prevent the meeting from turning into a free for all, including;

- No signs, props or other campaign material, except that which can be presented on the overhead projector, will be allowed in the Council chambers.

- Only the person speaking during public comment periods may stand at the podium or in the area around it, with the exception of those who need a translator or assistance.

- The two-minute limit for speakers will be strictly enforced.

- There will be no tolerance for disruptive public outbursts.

We had a little dust up in my hometown late last year and I created a thread on it as many of the citizens were outraged.

We had huge turnouts at the Town Council meetings were people voiced their extreme displeasure. Our town however has had similar rules in place from the outset to enable everyone to get a chance to speak. Even with the two minute rule the meetings ran close to midnight. I honestly do not have a problem with the time limit as if you have huge turnouts it allows everyone (hopefully) to voice their opinion.

I also do not want to see people shouting over each other as we should all have the ability to use the public forum without being drowned out by others.

In regards the signs on am open to people having them as long as they do not obstruct anyone else's ability to view or participate in the proceedings.

What the citizens should be doing is what we did, vote the offenders out post haste.

a reply to: JonButtonIII

Well I should bloody well hope so.

The fact is that I am amazed that the New Mexico government have not been bought in to settle this. Seems like something that needs kicking up the chain to me, because the middle management do not appear to have a handle on what their job is, let alone how to go about the doing of it!

I can tell you one thing. These city council members should begin counting their lucky stars. When the tide finally turns and the citizens of NM comenlooking for vengenence who will they go after first? The armed pigs or the fascists who own the City council.

My bet is the latter....I cannot believe this is happening in America. We need revolution.

I think that the citizens of that fair city, need to get together and then oust the city council and local government, making it a recall vote, to recall everyone of them, and install a new group to run. Also put on the ballot that if any official is convicted of a crime or removed from office, they get nothing, no benefit, no retirement, no nothing.

a reply to: sdcigarpig

Agree 100%

Then the rest of us should take the hint and start serving citizen's arrest warrants on the criminals in DC.

The problems in this country are just like litter you see by the side of the road in the park. Everyone walks right past it and no one bothers to pick it up, because they always assume it's someone else's problem. But until we all take some personal accountability for cleaning up this mess we've created, nothing's ever going to get done.

It's time to PEACEFULLY clean the trash out from this country, and we should all be looking straight at our city halls, police departments, and in that hallowed halls of pretty white building sitting right in the heart of Mordor on the Potomac.

a reply to: AugustusMasonicus

I actually agree with your sentiments here.

I do believe that having a structured respectable forum is important.
And I agree that everyone should be mindful to give everyone a chance.

In a way I kinda think these aren't new rules exactly, but a reminder of the old ones that I presume nearly every council has in some form or fashion.

I do understand that it's very emotional and the 'water is boiling'.
So it is a difficult situation to defuse, and I am actually hoping the DoJ can do something about it.
If I were the AG I'd tackle this head on because it's a major issue that needs resolution.

I really hope and pray that it will be resolved peacefully and that we can uphold our principles by doing exactly what you suggested, voting them out if they aren't fit for the seat. It will motivate them to come up with plans to address the problems constructively.

I'm trying as hard as I can to see this from everyone's point of view, including the council members. And I think we can all find common ground but everyone will need to compromise and be willing to make a few concessions to move the process forward.

a reply to: JonButtonIII

Vote all the bastards out.

I live outside ABQ, and I am as enraged as anyone over the situation with APD. I stay the hell out of ABQ unless I absolutely have to be there.

Having said that, there is a certain level of decorum expected at city council meetings, like with court rooms. People can voice their anger without becoming an unruly mob, or they can have a huge demonstration outside the building for the press to cover. But an unruly mob is just going to be a lot of noise where nothing gets heard. While the fact that it is an unruly mob is a message unto itself, it is not the most efficient way to deliver it.

Take turns at the mike. Get pissed. Let the councilors know you are angry. Have the peanut gallery cheer at key points. But maintain some decorum, at least.

a reply to: ScientiaFortisDefendit

IMO, decorum and groveling and bowing down to the made-up rules of these tyrants is exactly how they stay in power.

It's time to start calling it like it is. If someone is a criminal murderer (like our boy in the white house), it's time for the people to just turn their backs on the clown and stop listening to a word he says.

Same thing applies to the situation in Albuquerque. Talking calmly and showing respect to the a-holes who've shot 40 people in the last four years alone has done nothing. The time has come for the people of America to make it clear-- we've had enough, and we won't stand for this kind of bull# any longer.

ya know i believe in what ya say,trying to talk things out,takin turns talkin with time limits and all (lord knows some people just wont shut up). that is IF you have people who care about what your sayin. but i'm afraid it is past that point,they DON'T care they(TPTB) just want you and me to OBEY whatever they see fit.i'm afraid it is time for violence it is all they seem to pay attention to anymore.hmmmm...all the patrol cars have flats! cant get out there to shoot your grandma or dog tonight!! or maybe police puters get a virus? the tree of freedom MUST be replenished with blood.so say some famous dude or dudette. but is lookin that way...
reply to: ScientiaFortisDefendit