Citizens who want to address any of the county commissioners will have more opportunity if they simply call them because as a group the Maries County Commission on Monday said citizens of the county will only be allowed to address them from 9 to 9:05 a.m. at the two public meetings they have on Mondays and Thursdays from 9 a.m. to 12 noon.

The commissioners met with Maries County Prosecuting Attorney last Thursday in executive session but no motions were made. The commissioners on Monday said they did not vote on reducing public opinions and voices at the meetings, but had simply decided to limit the time citizens can speak to the first five minutes of the meeting.

Presiding Commissioner Victor Stratman said the meeting had become “kind of a circus” and they wanted them to have a “more formal agenda.” Stratman said they will start at 9 a.m. and have five minutes for people who want to come and do business with the commission. They also have to call the county clerk on a day before the meeting in order to get on the agenda. Stratman said the commissioners also want to be aware of what the citizen wants to talk about beforehand in order to keep the meetings more orderly. 

When asked, Stratman would not comment on why the commissioners have profoundly changed how they deal with county citizens’ spoken opinions and concerns at their public meetings, or whose idea it was. He didn’t want to discuss it further and quickly moved on to talking about the air conditioner bids.

Maries County citizen, Edna Smith, 78, a church-going widow who lives on MCR 522, who has been attending the meetings, commented she thinks the reason the commissioners are doing this is because of her. The commissioners did not comment when Smith said this.

Smith and her neighbor had approached Eastern District Commissioner Doug Drewel about concerns they have with MCR 522 and a dangerous curve where oncoming traffic can’t been seen. They had safety concerns and none of this was addressed. Drewel would not speak to Smith and only did so one time when he accused her of interfering with a road worker Smith spoke to while the road worker was cutting brush in her area. Smith lives in the area of the county which known as Veto. 

Smith said she enjoys attending the commission meetings and has learned a lot. She also attends some of the Phelps County Commission meetings and is able to speak freely. She said those commissioners have addressed her concerns in the past as she owns rental property in Rolla. Smith said she also likes to attend the Rolla City Council meetings when there is an issue she is interested in. She plans to continue attending the Maries County Commission meetings and if she wants to speak, she will go through the new process of getting on the agenda and telling the county clerk what she wants to speak about.

Similarly, Bland Mayor Lee Medlock said July 15 that he wanted to implement a time limit on the “public comments” section of the agenda.

“ I am in favor of citizens coming up and voicing their opinion,” Medlock clarified, but added that interrupting the meeting to agree or include information was taking too much time. 

He used the July 12 meeting as an example. There were some people on the agenda that spoke, but there was another one or two that weren’t on it. Anderson said one was called on to talk.

“Well, anyhow, that wasn’t a big deal,” Medlock said. “But some of the things they were bringing up happened several years ago. We are all here trying to do business for the city. I don’t have a problem with someone coming up and voicing their opinion to the city. But from now on I am wanting to put a time limit on how much time these people are taking to voice their opinion.”

Mayfield said whenever she goes to a commission meeting, people come forward and say what they need to say. Medlock added that they could ask if they may speak first if they are not on the agenda.

“If we have someone who calls in and says they want to talk to the board, we can do that,” Medlock said.

No formal action was taken.