CAO Message: Incivility at Our Board Meetings

Message from Helen Robbins-Meyer, Chief Administrative Officer

You may have witnessed yourself or heard about some of the public comment at yesterday’s Board of Supervisors meeting. The remarks included racist and violent language, directed at individual members of County leadership. I’ve never been as disgusted or angry in my years spent in the chambers. As the chief administrator for the County, I condemn the language and behavior in the strongest possible terms.

People can have reasonable disagreements about the tactics used to protect the public’s health during a pandemic. Actions that affect people’s livelihoods and health understandably prompt an emotional response. We have a forum for airing those disagreements, a cherished feature of our democracy.

But increasingly in recent months, that right to be heard has been turned into an opportunity to make personal attacks, to level unfounded accusations, to spread misinformation. The escalating rhetoric may fall within the bounds of free speech, but yesterday it crossed all lines of decency. Our County leadership is reviewing meeting protocols for ways we can maintain First Amendment rights while keeping threatening hate speech out of our proceedings.   

I’m sorry for the people in the room that were the targets of those remarks. People who have tried mightily to fulfill their duty to guard our residents’ health. If you were listening, I’m sorry you had to hear the kind of abuse no one should be subjected to. It was revolting and distressing. I’ll offer a reminder that our Employee Assistance Program offers free, confidential counseling for anyone who would find it helpful.

We denounce the vile racism and cruelty that made their way into our efforts to conduct the people’s business. We are committed to working with our residents in shaping their community. But we all share a responsibility to come together with civility and respect toward one another.