Whaaaat? Public and Media Not Allowed Into Political Forum Held By Police and Fire Unions, Reported by The Town Talk
Quote of the day:
“Once it’s public, then it becomes political,” Livingston said. “They have to be secretive. Unions in other places have done this. It’s important that it be private. They’re a private organization.”
Right. If you invite all the mayoral candidates to speak to your union and you close your doors to the media and the taxpaying public, it’s somehow NOT political. But the moment you let the public in on the conversation, it becomes political.
Geez.
CenLamar 
It happened like they said. I made a U-turn at the door also. I am going to have to think on this one for a while.
Political Activity (Const. Art. X, §9)
Members of civil service commissions and officers and employees in the classified service (if subject to Part I of Article X) are prohibited by the constitution from participating in political activity.
Lamar, while it may seem a dirty underhanded way to have a meet and greet with the candidates, thats about the only way civil service employees can do it as a group. We can’t even wear any of the nice tee shirts with someone’s name or have any yard signs. Well our spouses can do such but that invites slander and libel. Then you have to sic a lawyer on the offending party and that gets expensive.
Civil,
I am not a lawyer, and I’m not employed by the government. But this still doesn’t seem right. Your point is well-taken; civil service employees can’t play politics. But how does that preclude them from inviting the media and the public into a mayoral candidate forum in which all seven candidates are present?
Something doesn’t add up here.
Lamar, I wasn’t really offended. This was a chance for the union members to exchange with the candidates in a controlled setting without appearing at a campaign event which would probably be trouble if they attended that. They lay it on the line every day for us and it is only right that they be fully informed. Think about it. Any question from a union or civil service person would more than likely be stretched out of proportion in a public venue.
Spanky,
I understand. But it still speaks to an overall culture of paranoia. City employees could offer an invaluable perspective on the election. And I don’t consider a forum to be a “campaign event,” because it’s not tied down to any particular candidate’s campaign. Sure, it’s political in nature— but so are civil servants’ jobs.
In other words, I think we need to relax a little bit, open up the dialogue, and invite the media into the discussion.
There’s another point to be made: There aren’t any incumbents in this race.
Still, like I said, I think you make a good point, and I just hope that, in the future, we can all speak honestly without fear of reprisal.
But then again, I’m starry-eyed and naive. Hehe.
The thought did cross my mind that all the city employees and members of the civil service comission could show up at a forum. Would someone try to fire all of us?
The way things have evolved in today’s climate everything you do or say in public will be contrued politically to the negative or positive, depending on your stance on any given issue.
“pollwatcher said…
The way things have evolved in today’s climate everything you do or say in public will be contrued politically to the negative or positive, depending on your stance on any given issue.”
HUH???????????? WTF?
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I worked for the State of Louisiana for many years as a civil service employee. One advantage of being under civil service rules was having a perfect excuse not to put a campaign sign in my yard when asked to do so by some political candidate. I understood I could attend political forums where all the candidates were invited, but I could not attend an event sponsored by an individual candidate. If public employees were allowed to get involved in poltical campaigns, we would soon have a return to the abuses prevalent during the days of Huey P. Long. Do anyone remember the old expression “the deducts are flying?”, a reference to the mandatory contributions taken from employees’ pay checks and put into the Kingfish’s campaign chest?