Akbal Mund, I want to applaud your oversight of disruptive behaviour in council chambers June 26. I have been a part of great executive committee meetings in the past where some disruptive presence will sideline what everybody else is there to discuss or learn about. In the absence of a sergeant at arms, it behooves the chairperson to maintain decorum in a city council meeting. I thought the way you handled that person June 26 was very effective and reflective of the moral authority your position commands. Last October, during the rainbow crosswalk discussions in chambers, the same person was incredibly rude and insulting prior to the meeting, and (city employees) Patti Bridal, or perhaps it was Sue Blakely, told this individual to cease and desist. He did. As somebody who attends meetings for a specific reason, and who at that time of that earlier incident, was discussing council procedure with two young women who were there to learn, it is good to know that you and your staff won’t let this kind of boorish behaviour sully the integrity of that council chamber. It is that kind of behaviour, and peoples’ apprehension of being in proximity to that kind of behaviour, which dissuades people from coming to city council meetings.
Dean Roosevelt, Vernon