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Resident tells council reduced comment time and annexation policies silence neighboring voices
Summary
At the April 28 meeting a resident criticized the council’s reduction of public-comment time and framed the city’s annexation actions as unfair to neighboring communities; the mayor responded that the council will hear new information but warned against repeating the same remarks repeatedly.
During the citizen-comment period at the April 28 Huber Heights City Council meeting, resident Jeff Morford of Bethel Township criticized the council’s decision to shorten public-comment time and said the city’s annexation practices harm neighboring communities.
Morford said the reduction of his five-minute speaking time felt like an attempt to silence viewpoints and compared the council’s approach to state annexation laws in Columbus that he called unjust. “If something is wrong, if something is unjust or unfair, it has to continue to be communicated until the message is heard,” Morford said, urging continued public pressure on annexation procedures.
Mayor Gore and council members responded that residents are welcome to speak at council meetings, but the mayor cautioned against repeating the same comments “week after week.” The mayor said the city’s annexation actions were reviewed by legal counsel and that those laws and prior council votes are not within the council’s immediate ability to change. He suggested that state-level action would be the appropriate avenue for changes to annexation law.
Morford’s remarks focused on moral and ethical objections to annexation and to what he characterized as restricted public comment. The mayor and council emphasized that the city welcomes public input but want commenters to bring new information to the table rather than repeat prior remarks. No formal council action on annexation policy was taken at the meeting.
