Merced to look at communication

The Merced City Council will discuss how it can better communicate with the public during Monday’sregular meeting, when it will also address whether those speaking during the public comment period are being treated fairly.

The discussion of how public comments are handled was placed on the agenda by Mayor Stan Thurston, after recent comments by Councilman Noah Lor alluded to a race and gender bias toward those who speak to the council.

“I’ve found it to be that this council really (mistreats) women and minority speakers,” Lor said during the Nov. 17 meeting. “So, it’s a concern to me.”

He pointed to incidents at the Oct. 20 and Nov. 3 meetings of council, saying they were examples of bias.

During the Oct. 20 meeting, a Merced woman of Asian descent was speaking to the council but, when her allotted five minutes ended, Thurston asked her to speak with Police Chief Norm Andrade for assistance. The woman was asking for help for her mother, whom the woman said was being harassed by a neighbor.

At the Nov. 3 meeting, Merced police Detective Joe Deliman, who is white, was allowed to continue to speak after his allotted five minutes. He was reading from a written statement and, after Thurston asked him if he was close to being done, was allowed to finish reading.

“We certainly need to pay attention to the way we operate, because we seem to break our own rules every time,” Lor said, during the Nov. 17 meeting.

Aside from Lor, who is Hmong, the rest of council is made up of white men.

In an interview Friday with the Merced Sun-Star, Lor backed off from his statement on race and sex.

“At the time, I might not have delivered the message clearly,” he said. “I’m trying to express my disappointment that we should be consistent about what we want to do and the way we handle business.”

Lor said he was attempting to comment on what he sees as inconsistencies in the way the council operates.

He pointed to an industrial park plan idea floated by another councilman early this year that the mayor said should be discussed at a later date. Lor said that was inconsistent with the mayor’s recently voiced idea to add one police officer each year for the next five years.

“Our priority session is coming up soon, and we should wait until during that time when we make suggestions about what we’ll do for the next year,” Lor said.

Thurston said he wanted the item about public comment rules on the agenda so he could defend himself, as it’s the mayor who runs the meetings and the public comment sessions. If a speaker goes beyond the five-minute period, it’s the mayor who can interrupt and cut off discussion.

Thurston said that neither he nor the council have a bias against women or minorities.

“There’s no evidence that it ever happened, and I’m really disappointed that it even came up,” he said.

Referring to the woman at the Oct. 20 meeting, Thurston said he waited for a pause.

“I don’t cut people off in midsentence,” he said. “Then, I sent her to Chief Andrade, and I don’t see anything wrong with what I did there.”

He also defended his handling of the detective’s speech from Nov. 3, saying he let the detective finish his prepared statement.

“I’ve done that before, but I didn’t do it because he’s a white male,” he said.

Thurston said the city would be better served if the councilmen would refrain from “personal” attacks.

“That just doesn’t work very well and it doesn’t look good, and it makes the city look like it’s not totally under control,” he said.

As for budget and priority talks, Thurston said there are issues that come up during the year that cannot wait for the priority sessions. He said, for example, the gun violence the city has seen this year needs action sooner if possible.

This story was originally published November 30, 2014 at 4:24 PM with the headline "Merced to look at communication."