Letters: Mayor should have let Massie finish speaking at meeting

Up until the meeting when the conflict with Rebekah Massie took place, I had always thought highly of Mayor Skip Hall, even when we did not agree on every issue.

That changed a lot during the confrontation with Massie in the City Council meeting. Maybe he just overreacted to the situation but now this has gotten way out of hand with Massie being ejected and arrested.

I tend to agree she had every right to say what she did regardless of what the Council put on the request-to-speak paper. There is simply no other public forum for residents to share their opinions and concerns with the City Council in whole at one time.

Thus again in my opinion Massie was in fact denied her right to speak out about a problem she saw with that raise for the city attorney. Had the mayor stayed silent for a few more minutes it would have been over and the end result of a citizen now having a civil rights case among other legal remedies would never have happened.

The city attorney I am sure has heard far worse things said about him over his career, and he very politely stayed silent while she expressed her views. Now, the city is going to have to deal with both what the press says about it and what if any actions Massie may bring against the city and Hall personally, which I suspect the city again will have to defend him in.

The city attorney, too, most likely will have to excuse himself from being involved for the city due to conflict of interest and was the subject of her views being expressed. It is just one huge can of worms that should have easily been avoided had Mayor Hall simply stayed quiet a few minutes more.

You can say he had to defend the city attorney, but I am again sure if he wished the city attorney could have just as well defended himself if he felt the need and surely would have been given an opportunity to do so by Council.

Now, the public the mayor represents is going to have to potentially deal with a very costly mess that more than likely will extend way beyond his term. I find the whole thing distasteful and think calmer minds now should work hard to drop all charges, if any, against Mrs. Massie and move on.

She is going to do as she chooses now as to her actions against the mayor and city, but the mayor calling in the police to shut up a dissenting single voice in the room was a way over-the-top reaction to the situation in my opinion.

Again, we the public will most likely will suffer the financial losses this will bring in costs and hours spent cleaning up this mess. As was recommended by one person, maybe Mayor Hall should seek early retirement and let the vice mayor finish out the lame duck term of his office.

I know its not the way he wanted to finish his term but given the action he took it may be the best way to calm the waters. That is his call but somehow allowing this to blow up to what could be a civil rights and Supreme Court case statewise seems totally nuts, but it sure has the makings for just that and again we the tax paying public will foot the bill for all of this.

Truly a horrible lose-lose situation. Again just my opinion but someone has to say it as to stay silent takes us to a dictatorship with no personal ability to descent when we feel it is required.

Too many brave people have died defending her right to be able to be heard and speak her mind and lets not overlook where the alternative takes us.

Reader reactions, pro or con, are welcomed at AzOpinions@iniusa.org.