APS board intends to shut down public forum; here's how and why

Let's start with, why? The board wants to limit public forum in order to prevent citizens at the forum from criticizing or embarrassing them. It is as simple as that. They're not about protecting the sanctity of meetings, they are about hiding from the consequences of their corruption and incompetence. Their intention is cowardly and corrupt.

In so far as how?, the law (the lowest standard of conduct acceptable to civilized human beings) appears to be on their side. Time is also on their side, they will try to pass the policy Tuesday at 5pm and then ram it through during a regular meeting the next day. The agenda for the Wednesday meeting is yet to be posted and will likely not be posted until the very last minute.

Their argument, link, begins with NM's feckless Open Meetings Law. The board gleefully points out that they're not required to have open forums at all.

"The Open Meetings Act does not require local boards of education to allow for public comments at any of its board meetings."

True; the law doesn't require public forums; though clearly it should and must. The law guarantees citizens only the right to be present and listen to deliberations. The board will argue that since they're not required to have a forum at all, offering a limited forum is justified; it's better than nothing. The argument is specious. Regardless of the law, the board has a moral obligation to the people to offer a forum.

The Constitution reads;

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.

Yet the School Board intends to do just that. They intend to make a law that prohibits free speech and places limits on the right to petition one's government.

Likely, the board will prevail because they have an unlimited budget to underwrite the litigation and legal weaselry that will enable them to ignore the spirit if not the letter of the United States Constitution.

The only thing that will stop them is a large enough number of people standing up at a public forum to protest against their plan;

• Create limited public forum by policy
• Give notice of limited forum; (Agenda items only Limitations on time)
  
• Train board members on control of meetings to limit speech to agenda items only
• Restrict comment to those items on agenda only
  
• Don’t expand the forum to include non-agenda items or (the) forum has gone from a "limited forum" to a "designated forum" and board then has to accept all comments within the jurisdiction/authority of the school board

It is hard to believe that well into the third millennium and deep in the heart of one of the oldest and most respected Democracies on the planet, and in a public school district boardroom no less; discussion is taking place that will take government of, by and for the people, a giant step backwards.

In the event they cannot be stopped in the effort to create a board policy to protect them from legitimate criticism, any board member who votes to restrict public forum should be recalled. It can be done, link.