Tyron Scott is a resident of Dover.
I am writing in response to an article titled “Dover committee approves additional City Hall safety measures.”
After reading the article and watching the WebEx broadcast of the committee meeting, I have to express how disappointed I am by Dover City Council’s decision to spend $11,000 a year to have a police officer protect them while they’re having their meetings at City Hall for three hours, as opposed to putting the police officer out on the street to protect the citizens of Dover. I live in the 4th District, and God knows we need more police officers out and about, patrolling our streets and neighborhoods to deter crime.
I believe Ms. Belinda Main, a resident who spoke up at the committee meeting, said it best when she told the mayor and City Council members that they need to stop being afraid of the people who come to council meetings to express how they feel about things not getting done in the city. She also inquired why council members don’t ask what they can do to make our city safe as a whole. From what I observed, it appears Ms. Donyale Hall and other council members are too worried about themselves and their own safety, and are not paying attention to all residents’ safety in our city.
Ms. Main went on to state that what council members fail to realize when it comes to safety is that anything can be used as a weapon at a meeting, to include something as small as a pen. Ms. Main said that she attends most City Council meetings and that there is a small percentage of attendees, if anyone from the public attends at all. People are fed up because council is not listening to their voices.
I mostly watch the city meetings on WebEx or Dover TV and have never observed anything out of the ordinary that could have caused safety concerns. I don’t physically attend the meetings due to scheduling, so I can’t speak to what isn’t broadcast. But I do notice that the police chief is at all of the meetings, with his firearm. Which brings me to ask the question: Why is the city now going to pay $11,000 a year to have a police officer at council meetings, when the actual police chief is there to protect the citizens, council and the mayor?
I, like everyone else, do not want to see anyone ever be unsafe at a City Council meeting, but I believe that what is being proposed is irresponsible spending on the part of the mayor and council members. If they feel unsafe at City Hall, why don’t they feel unsafe while attending public events, where they are out and about in crowds of people? Mr. André Boggerty, who headed the Security Ad-Hoc Committee, mentioned that the council members are more out in the community than at City Hall but, in the end, voted for the motion.
All this makes me wonder if this decision of having an overtime police officer at the council meetings could lead to personal security details for the mayor and individual council members at a cost to the taxpayers.
I wait to see what’s next, as City Hall becomes a fortress for council meetings.
Reader reactions, pro or con, are welcomed at civiltalk@iniusa.org.
