Oxnard City Council Policy

The birthday celebration of Martin Luther King Jr. should have been a signal for the minority members of the Oxnard City Council to take heart in preserving the civil rights of the ordinary citizens of Oxnard who take the time and effort to participate in local government affairs.

That includes senior citizens and the minority members of the community who wish to speak before the City Council on matters of importance to the community on the three-minute per person agenda of “public communications” before the council.

Some months ago the Oxnard City Council, with a smug attitude toward the citizenry, voted to put public communications at the end of the council sessions, which often go to midnight. This policy causes working people who have to be up early in the morning, or seniors who more often than not are prevented from being out late at night, to forego being at the end of the session. Putting the citizens of Oxnard at the end of the public hearings was likened to “putting them in the back of the bus!”

If we could bring Dr. King back to life and ask his opinion, I am sure he would say that he “would have never ‘dreamed’ of doing that to the ordinary people of any community!”

The Oxnard City Council should not deny people’s civil rights by making it as difficult as possible for people to speak before the council in public. This policy should be rescinded at once.

VENTURA FERNANDEZ

Oxnard