Upset about criticism, Golden pushes to limit public comments at school board meetings

The School Board of Manatee County elected James Golden as the vice chair on Nov. 17. About 30 minutes after the vote, he argued with two people in the middle of their comments to the board — each critical of the new vice chair.

The exchange unfolded after Golden shared his written analysis of Florida law and his proposed changes to the public comment process at board meetings. Glen Gibellina, a regular at the meetings, argued that Golden was violating the public’s right to information by sharing the documents with fellow board members but not the public.

Golden soon interjected, calling the statement false and starting a back-and-forth argument with Gibellina during his time for public comment.

“This is a public comment,” Gibellina responded. “I can tell you the sky is purple if I want. Do not interrupt me. Do not interrupt me. That’s part of the problem.”

“I will interrupt you because you are giving out erroneous information to the public,” Golden followed.

According to the documents in question, Golden hopes to update the public comment guidelines and curtail speakers who are deemed “discourteous” or “disrespectful.” It seems the language was meant for people like Garin Hoover, another regular at board meetings.

“Here we are, off to a great start,” he quipped, going on to reference “Mr. Golden” at the Nov. 17 meeting.

“It’s Reverend Golden,” the vice chair responded, cutting off Hoover and prompting another argument.

“When four pastors come in here and say that you lied to them in a church, you don’t deserve that title,” Hoover said.

He was referencing an accusation that Golden met with local pastors and spread lies about Eddie Hundley, the former principal of Lincoln Memorial Academy. The board’s vice chair has fervently denied the accusation.

“Out of order,” Golden said on Tuesday. “Mr. Hoover has forfeited his time, and he has forfeited his time because he has now personally attacked me three times.”

Board members respond

The documents — including Golden’s proposed changes and his legal analysis — were made public on Tuesday’s meeting agenda.

According to Florida law, the board chair can eject anyone who interferes with a meeting. Golden’s proposal would add a warning to the form for public comment registration, expanding the definition of what constitutes a disruption.

“Orderly fashion is defined as, at a minimum: (1) no profanity (2) no personal attacks (3) no discourteous, disrespectful or undignified conduct or remarks,” his proposal states.

Golden made it clear on Tuesday that “discourteous” comments were a deeply personal issue. Much like his fellow board members, Golden has been the target of sharp critiques and harsh comments over the past two years.

“This was designed to remove a lot of what I have witnessed here for the last two years . . . What I have simply tried to do is give us a uniform way of executing public comment and not be held hostage by the personalities or politics or positions of the people that come before us,” Golden said on Tuesday evening.

“I undertook this because I wouldn’t want anybody to be hurt like I have been hurt,” he continued. “I wouldn’t want anybody to have to experience the indignity that I have experienced under the guise of freedom of speech and constitutional rights.”

Golden said residents have levied false attacks on his character, integrity and judgment, tarnishing his name and derailing the board’s official business. Board member Gina Messenger was largely in agreement, taking issue with only a handful of details.

She was opposed to the line in Golden’s proposal that changed “public comment” to “public input for the good of the district.” While she agreed with the sentiment, Messenger said the language would lead to more contention.

“One of the reasons I nominated Rev. Golden to be vice chair is because Rev. Golden will be fully aware of whatever the law is,” Messenger said, referencing Golden’s background as an attorney.

“Your point is well taken and I agree with you on your point,” Messenger continued. “If you are not here for the good of the district— to truly benefit the district and the kids and this board — then you are here to make a show.”

Conversely, board member Mary Foreman was immediately opposed to the idea. While Florida law only requires that members of the public “be heard on a proposition before a board or commission,” Foreman said it was their duty to expand — not restrict — the public’s ability to share input of all kinds.

“I’m of the mindset that we need to do everything to bend over backwards, engage the public and respect their comments,” she said.

While board member Scott Hopes had to miss Tuesday’s meeting, citing cataract surgery, he expressed opposition to the changes during an interview on Wednesday.

“I think it’s overly broad and I don’t think we have a right to restrict the public’s access to their school board,” Hopes said. “I think language like that is just going to perpetuate the problems we have.”

“I’ve sat there and listened to people lie about me and accuse me of things,” he continued. “You just have to take it, being in the public and holding a public position.”

The board’s new chair, Charlie Kennedy, took issue with the broad language in Golden’s proposal, including the section barring “discourteous” remarks.

“I’m of the school of thought that we are elected officials, and if somebody wants to come here and criticize us for doing a bad job, for making bad decisions, I think that should certainly be their right,” he said on Tuesday. “If a commenter is criticizing us for a decision we made, to one board member that may be discourteous, to another it’s not.”

However, after further conversation, Kennedy went on to support much of the proposal. In a follow-up interview on Wednesday, Kennedy said he sympathized with Golden and his experience on the board.

“I’ve been pretty consistent my whole time on the board,” Kennedy said. “Somebody comes up for public comment, you can’t talk about employees but you can rip into us as much as you want. We’re elected, we should be able to take it. I don’t know. I was trying to find some way to make him feel supported.”

The meeting on Tuesday was a workshop, a chance for the board to discuss issues without taking official action. The board would have to notice the changes and vote at a future meeting if Golden’s proposal was to become part of an official policy or procedure.

An expert’s perspective

The Bradenton Herald reported on Manatee’s struggle with public comment last year, including the controversial rule against “personal attacks.” First Amendment experts said the term was too vague and subjective, allowing the board chair to silence criticism that he or she viewed as an “attack.”

Even if the board were to approve Golden’s proposal, the language likely would not survive a constitutional challenge, according to Frank LoMonte, director of the Brechner Center for Freedom of Information at the University of Florida.

“Vague policies are likely to be struck down by the courts, because they don’t give fair notice of what is and is not permitted,” he said in a written response. “Terms like ‘disrespectful’ or ‘discourteous’ are red-flag words, because they’re not legally defined terms.”

LoMonte pointed to a 2001 court ruling in Virginia. The Virginia Beach School Board and its chairman were sued for barring “personal attacks” during public comment — the same language used in Manatee’s current bylaws.

“The Chairman can effectively ‘gavel-down’ and silence much criticism of school officials by interpreting such comments as attacks against honesty, integrity, or character,” the judge concluded.

Golden’s proposal follows a series of contentious events that date back to Feb. 26, 2019. Under overwhelming pressure from Parrish residents, the school board voted 4-1 to rename the new North River High School to Parrish Community High School.

Critics said the name honored pioneer Crawford Parrish, who owned dozens of slaves in 1860. Parrish residents said the town was actually named after Parrish’s son, “a man of sterling worth and character,” according to a newspaper article published in 1918.

Residents also argued that “Parrish Community High School” was a name to honor the town’s current residents, not its early inhabitants. Regardless, the ousted leader of the Manatee NAACP, Rodney Jones, called Golden a “sellout” for supporting the name change.

Jones, who is also unhappy with Golden’s part in the Lincoln Memorial Academy takeover, has often questioned the vice chair’s standing in the Black community and the local faith community. At the meeting on Oct. 13, Jones called Golden a “sham,” and the board member responded by calling Jones “a blind, diabetic man.”

“It’s certainly true that school board members absorb a lot of harsh and sometimes undeserved criticism,” LoMonte wrote. “But they have the remedy of ‘counter-speech’ — they can have the last word, because they’re not limited to three minutes at the mic — and the courts have always said that the preferred remedy to unwanted speech is counter-speech, not silencing speech.”

This story was originally published December 3, 2020 at 5:00 AM.