Why You Gotta Be So Mean....

Yes, yes I used that title

In the past several weeks, I have been to two planning meetings in Robertson County. I want to take a moment and explain to you what those are like. First, the meetings are held in the juvenile courtroom. This in and of itself is not a big deal. The big deal is that they have 2-3 deputies on duty and make you go through the metal detector. The exit door could be held open for people just to come on in, but no, metal detectors for all. My husband wore his flannel that he hasn’t worn since last winter. In the pocket was a tool for cleaning a smoking pipe. It was metal, not a single knife on the thing. They made him leave it at the front with the deputy and the metal detector. Are you kidding me???? Who exactly was he going to attack with a pipe tool. Ok, it does have a point on it. This is what they confiscated for a planning meeting. The deputy at that metal detector was pleasant and told my husband he could leave it at the desk.

I’m not sure what has gone on before at county meetings, but this seems a little bit like overkill to me.

Second, Hunter Mantooth, Assistant Director of Planning and Zoning, is rude. That’s right, rude. She picked up the sign up sheet for public comment and yelled out, “If you want to speak you have to sign up.” There was no welcome. There was no smile. There was nothing that would give you the idea that she was speaking to the people who pay her salary. It didn’t get better, but I’ll come back to that.

This particular meeting had several people in the gallery. Yes, we were seated in the courtroom gallery and the board sat in front of the bench.

The chairman, Bill Jones, is the older gentleman toward the center of the photo, the board is off to the left, and Hunter Mantooth is in red. The podium to speak is on the right. None of the board members or employees have name tags. None of them welcomed the visitors. We were treated like hostiles. I am not sure if there are microphones in the room, but we could not hear the chairman. When we asked him to speak up, Mantooth then told him the people couldn’t hear, but that was after she gave us the stare of death.

The deputy sat behind the board for most of the meeting. I’m sure he needed to be near the podium just in case the citizens that care about their county said something mean or tried to use a pipe tool against the board. This deputy was nicer than the last one. The last one stood near the wall and touched his gun several times. There were only about 8 people at that meeting. See the woman in white next to the woman in red? I have no idea who she is or what she does.

Before the people spoke to the development on Horseshoe/Calisa, Mantooth stated that the planning department recommends approval. The people started to speak at the podium. Not once did Mantooth or Jones smile at the people. NOT ONCE. No one was rude. People gave their opinions on the development. People were not rude, they were not yelling. They were not loud. At one point, a comment was made about the building in White House, and someone in the gallery said “Yes,” like an amen you would hear in a Baptist service. Mantooth quickly yelled, “No outbursts.”

In the years that I have been attending meetings in White House, I have NEVER seen the people treated the way there were treated in Robertson County. One of my first interactions with Gerald Herman was less than positive, but he spoke to me, his tone wasn’t disdain, and he let me speak. While I did not like what he had to say, at no point was he rude to me. At no point did the WHPD treat us like the enemy. The previous mayor of White House behaved as if he was better than the rest of us, and knew better, but they weren’t nasty. When you walk into a planning meeting in Robertson County, you feel as if you are walking into enemy territory.

Let me be clear, I am not talking about the actual board members. The people sitting on the left were not rude or nasty, it was those running the meeting. Those that are “in charge” have taken that title or job or whatever it is to heart. I am here to remind them once again, YOU WORK FOR US!!!!

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed.

Read that again Robertson County. You only govern us because of us. We have to consent. I for one do NOT consent to being treated as a stupid subject. I live here. I bank here. I pay taxes here. I coach here. My family and I are not the enemy. The man down the road worried about his road is not the enemy. The woman worried about the school being full is not the enemy. The man concerned about water run off is not the enemy. We love our homes and our towns and our county. Do you hear that? We love these things. They are dear to us. When we come to you to voice our concerns, we are petitioning our government. That is explicitly laid out in the Constitution. We have treated you with respect. We followed your rules and went through your metal detector. The least you could do is treat us with the same. If not, you will find that the people will get ugly. Notice, I said ugly, not violent. At some point, these citizens will start calling for your jobs. From the deputy that clenches his fists in a meeting and yells at a 100 pound woman to sit down, to the assistant planner that can’t be kind to the people. You are all on notice.

Consider a paid subscription if you are finding these insightful