Mr. Tyron Scott a wrote an Opinion bordering on slander, in which he admitted that he was commenting based upon hearsay (“Councilman’s tone, behavior troubling”). The simple fact is that Dover City Council’s current setup does not have members interacting with public comments. Anyone listening to a recording would not even find an interaction that could be misinterpreted as either rude or as an interruption of a citizen except someone being called to order because that person was shouting from the gallery to interrupt me. That is not free speech; you are trying to take mine. I will not tolerate that. I won’t be rude about it, but I will be firm and strong. Individuals cannot come in, have their time, then try to keep us from doing the people’s business. No government can operate on hecklers’ vetoes, any more than you can parent based upon temper tantrums. The city has serious business.
I was trying to advocate that some of the drug settlement proceeds over the next 12 years expand our mental health unit, so it operates more than 40 hours a week. One of the top problems is that our streets have people populating them with illnesses of addiction and other mental illnesses. I also believe that other money should be based upon grants, like Kent County is doing, and publicly voted upon by council — not having self-dealing by activists deciding the distribution. Some people don’t like that I ask tough questions. That’s fine. In their three minutes, they can say how much they hate me because I disrupt their cozy arrangements, and I don’t interrupt. I will not permit them to disrupt me during our time. I will also call a point of order to point out name-calling and violations of decorum by members. It’s time we regain control of meetings, so important business can happen. On that, I will not compromise.
Dover City Councilman David L. Anderson
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