The City of Westminster has changed the format of Oral Communications.  Most people don’t read the agenda of the Westminster City Council each time it is published to the web or posted at City Hall (shock!).  So, most people don't know when things that will concern them will be discussed at a council meeting.

ON July 22, 2008, I watched, in “Awe”,  the Westminster City Council Meeting (live) on Cable Channel WTV3.  What was the “Shock and Awe” – I’ll get to the point…I watched our City Council members vote, through a complicated acrobatic act of rescinding resolutions and adopting new ones, to limit the total time the taxpayers and residents of this city have to speak at the city council meetings to a total of 5 minutes.  It was the "six month review" of this new way of "oral communications", which was initiated by Truong/Tyler Diep. Many people have spoken against this individually, and at council meetings, but to no avail.  If you watch the recording of this council meeting you will see FEW people attend it, mostly those that have been notified of something on the agenda that concerns them.

Before this latest act, you could talk during Oral Communications, and then you could talk 3 minutes on any topic on the agenda.  That was the precedence set by previous city councils of Westminster to allow a maximum of public input. Complaints from council members about the meetings taking too long appears to have been what led up to this recent act of depriving citizens from being “interactive” with the people they vote for.

Yes, all five of these councilpersons, well four councilpersons and the Mayor, have been elected by the residents of Westminster, the same people who pay the taxes here.  So the next time an election rolls around, just remember, when THEY want YOU to listen to their campaign speeches and read their campaign material (that will be mailed to you); they really DON’T want to listen to you, they just want you to listen to them.

 They will tell you they will listen to you any time, so for your convenience, here are their numbers:  City Hall line: 714 – 898 – 3311;  Extensions:  Mayor Rice - X 275, Mayor Pro Tem Tri Ta  - X 263;  Councilman Frank Fry – X 271, Councilman Andy Quach - X 274; and Councilman Truong/Tyler Diep – X 273.  (X = Extension).  Good luck with this.

 The public meetings are the times that the citizens of Westminster have always been allowed, and encouraged, to give their input on every subject.  But, things have certainly changed.  Please take the time to watch the City Council meeting on WTV3 if you live in Westminster; or you can watch it on the computer at:  http://www.westminster-ca.gov/  and you will see “Live meetings, Video and Streaming Archive” in a box on the right side.  It takes them a few weeks to post them on the website so you might want to watch it on TV if you have cable.  Just go see how things have changed….you might be shocked, and in awe too.  (You can click on the agenda item to have it "fast forward" to that part in the video.)