Source: Seattle City Council member Debora Juarez swears at citizen testimony after asking for respect
May 9, 2016, 4:21 PM | Updated: May 10, 2016, 6:55 pm
(Seattle Channel screengrab)
Days after rightfully demanding respect from Seattleites angry over the Seattle City Council’s vote to deny a street vacation for a stadium, council member Debora Juarez dismissed the concerns of one voter, calling out his criticism as “bulls*it” on an open mic during a council meeting.
Taking time out of his day to attend the public comment portion of Monday’s council meeting, a Seattleite explained why he thought the council acted hypocritically when they voted against the street vacation.
Related: The stunning hypocrisy of the Seattle arena ‘no’ vote
During his testimony, which criticized council member Lorena Gonzales, one female council member wasn’t particularly happy, calling out his comment with a vulgarity. You can watch the testimony here (the moment in question happens at 8:00). A source, who wished to remain anonymous, verified the council member was Juarez.
“OK, this needs to stop,” complained council member Debora Juarez off-camera. “How far along are we to go on with this?”
“Actually, I’d like to say that I think it’s highly inappropriate for this gentleman to focus on one of our colleagues,” council member Sally Bagshaw then said. “There was five of us who voted no for very intelligent reasons. I just want to say that this has gotta stop.”
But, if you’re going to ask for respect from the public, perhaps you, too, should respect the public and their positions on this. If you think what they say is wrong, perhaps you should speak up without demeaning them?
And since when is it unacceptable to level criticism to a council member? I’m a fan of council member Bagshaw; she’s done some great work and I’ve voted for her. But, no, it’s not inappropriate to call out council members on their vote (particularly if that council member represents you in office). It’s our duty to call out bad votes and the council’s ‘no’ vote was hypocritical. It’s more inappropriate to try to silence the people you all work for.