Story posted Wednesday, February 10, 2010
Resident Says Free Speech Violated At Dist. 207 Meeting
By DWIGHT ESAU Journal & Topics Reporter
Eric Poders takes his public speaking very, very seriously.
A resident of Morton Grove in an area served by High School District 207, he came to the Monday, Dec. 1 board meeting to speak to the board about the budget deficit crisis.
He filled out a card with his name and submitted it t o school officials before the meeting, as is required by board procedures for its meetings.
But he didn't get a chance to speak, because his name wasn't called before the one-hour time limit set by the board for public input expired.
This, he says, violated his rights of free speech according to the U.S. Constitution, and he filed a formal police report with Park Ridge Officer Mike Luehr, who works in Maine South as a school resource police officer.
"I filled out a comment card to speak, but was unable to do so due to a restriction placed by Board President Ed Mueller," Poders said. "This violated my rights of free speech."
About a dozen other persons were able to comment on the budget crisis before the board moved on to other business at the meeting, which was held in the Maine South auditorium.
"This was the second public forum on the budget, and we had limited time for it because it was a regular board meeting," said 207 spokesman Dave Beery. "President Mueller wanted to give persons who hadn't had a chance to speak at the Jan. 20 forum to speak at this meeting. It just happened that Mr. Poders name wasn't among those called."
He added that school officials don't believe this constituted a violation of anyone's rights.
"Our board believes it heard every possible point of view and opinion regarding the proposed budget cuts that could possibly have been expressed," Beery said. "Nearly 75 persons spoke at the Jan. 20 meeting. The dialog on this issue has been extensive and useful."
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