The public outcry as a reaction to Harford County Council President Dick Slutzky's ban on the public approaching him and his council colleagues after the conclusion of County Council meetings was a refreshingly unified display of civic mindedness.
Longtime Democratic Party activist and campaign organizer George F. Harrison Jr., of Bel Air, had this to say about the matter: "We are going to keep going over it until the council president and the other members of the council understand that we still live in a democracy and our elected officials eventually have to answer to us, the voters."
Korean War veteran Robert Banker, of Fallston, wrote these lines: "In the First Amendment to the Bill of Rights it prohibits abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press and the right to petition the government for a redress of grievances. The point is that these regulations infringe upon free speech, regardless of the reasons given for their issuance. While it is said that this is a means to bolster protections for elected officials, the media articles do not support this thesis."
The comments from Harrison and Banker were some of the many printed and expressed in other forums that shared a common theme: In a free society, it's just not right for someone elected by the people to serve the people to then ignore the people.
Slutzky's claim was that the ban on people approaching the council at the conclusion of its regular public sessions was intended to improve security.
He may well have believed that. There's good reason, however, to presume the security at county council meetings already was – and remains – pretty darn good. Anyone entering the council chambers to attend a council meeting must pass through a metal detector and armed sheriff's deputies are on hand to attend to the metal detector and provide security.
Given those realities, the public outcry was of one voice on the subject and, while Slutzky initially issued a statement (not personally, but through a spokeswoman) that the matter wouldn't be given further consideration, within a few days he abruptly changed course and rescinded the ban on the citizenry approaching its leaders.
It was an unusual move for Slutzky. Since elected, he has taken many stands that have drawn strong criticism. Support for the proposed Eva-Mar senior housing complex on the eastern side of Bel Air is one that comes to mind. Generally, he's never swayed.
In this case, however, it seems clear that Slutzky saw this as a fight to walk away from, not because he believed he was wrong, but rather because he realized it was a controversy that wasn't going away until he changed course.
The ban on approaching elected officials at the conclusion of a public forum was ill-conceived and ran counter to a firm belief held across the spectrum of political thought in this country, namely that the people have a right to approach those who represent them in government. It's a proud moment for Harford County that its citizens, from various political perspectives, stood up and said this wrong-headed policy would not stand.
The outcome of this episode, in its own small way, is reason to be hopeful about the future of the American Republic.