Active Listening — The Hypocritical Response of Curt Posey and the Hoover City Council
I sit here, 11pm at night, dumbfounded.
I exclaimed, “COME HERE YOU BIG BEAR! I COULD KISS YOU RIGHT NOW!” to a friend online via DM, quoting one of my favorite TV shows.
You see, I amped. That’s the phrase I use when my mind is racing and I know I won’t be able to sleep until I commit “words to paper”. Text to screen, if you will.
And that friend had just sent me the final piece of this article. The piece that would be seal the title, the theme, and consume me for the next two or so hours.
You see, he sent me a link over to this Facebook post (https://www.facebook.com/poseyforplace1/posts/2937442036375842) where… well, let me have Curt Posey, Hoover City Councilor, Place 1 say it for you:
“The picture on the top is from December 2018, and the picture on the bottom is from a little over two hours ago. What’s consistent in both pictures is something you won’t see on the news or hear about on talk radio because it’s something you can’t see, hear or even feel depending on the circumstances. It doesn’t cost anything, but often times it’s worth its weight in gold. It’s a thing called active listening. While I may never know if the speakers at the podiums in these photos knew that I was listening, I’m grateful for the opportunity to be in a position where I can do so, and can use what I learn from these experiences to help make our city a better place to live, work and worship.“
And, indeed, the pictures does, in fact, depict Posey, Gene Smith (Hoover City Council President) and presumably other council members who appear to be listening.
Damn, that’s a hell of a thing — especially in this day and age of people arguing on the internet with quick substance-less jabs, ill-conceived notions, and un-researched thoughts. To listen and entertain a viewpoint, a thought if you will, that differs from your own, without having to accept it. Some might say that is the mark of an educated mind. Reminds me of something that people attributes to Aristotle, but I digress.
If this is truly the mark of an educated man, then Posey, Smith, and the rest of the council need to head back to school.
You see, on Tuesday, July 6th, during the regularly scheduled city council meeting (access granted remotely via Zoom because of the pandemic), public comment was silence before it could have even been heard.
Let me set the scene for you.
I logged in just around 5 minutes till the 6pm meeting start time. I very quietly waited (video off) and listened to the council go through the docket. Or, at least I started to listen.
After about the first 7 or so minutes, the audio (and eventually video feed) from the meeting cut out and was out for nearly 20 minutes. No comment from the “City of Hoover” user acknowledging any technical errors until prompted by myself.
Despite numerous request from those attending remotely (over 50 people at one time in the Zoom call) to pause the meeting until the audio was restored, the meeting soldiered on. Once the audio and video were restored, one of the councilors callously commented “We went really slow for ya”.
No one really knows what happened during that time, unless they had risked their lives during a pandemic and attended in person. But, I digress. This isn’t about the pandemic.
The docket continued on.
COMPACT 2020 was agreed upon. A modification to an ordinance to classify Trace Crossing as an entertainment district. Something about Ingress/Egress Access Easement between the city and Lake Cyrus Mater Owners Association.
There was even mention of the possibility of getting a social work team on city staff — you know, one of those crazy ideas that the Black Lives Matter movement has when they say “defund the police”. But that was quickly swept away, citing a budget freeze and a “even though they have a terrible track record with mental health, that’s more of a state responsibility, and our efforts would be useless” comment.
Yes. I’m paraphrasing, but I’m not exaggerating. Don’t believe me — Hoover posts its meetings online. It’s not up yet, but should be on this page in the coming days: http://www.hooveralabama.gov/AgendaCenter.
Then came a very passionate speech by an individual about the city’s pandemic response. And kudos to him. He’s like me — he can calmly hold a position and conversation and still call people to the table. And he did.
Then, it came to open comments. You know, Curt’s favorite part. The part where he gets to listen. The part that doesn’t cost him anything but often times is worth its weight in gold. Yea, that part.
I turned on my video so they could see my face, look me in the eye. I was unmuted. We were asked to keep our comments brief. I was acknowledged. I was prepared with my comments. I started my comments. After I introduced myself, I stated and acknowledged that while not a Hoover resident, my interests and my money commonly reside there and that I wanted them to address a couple of items.
As soon as I started my next sentence… “I would like council to address the fact that when taken into custody, warrants were not…” it was at about this point I was cut off and muted. Just like that.
“You are not a Hoover resident nor do you have a business in Hoover”.
The next person spoke. A life long resident of Hoover. She started to ask something similar, but less than a sentence in, she too was muted and cut off.
“We cannot comment on ongoing legal matters”.
Still a third person started to ask the same questions… with the same results.
Now, no where on the event page did it state that the council would not comment on “ongoing legal matters”. Nor is there anything that I can find on their website that would lead me to believe that these important city matters could not be addressed by the council. Nothing was said prior to the meetings, nor were any comments made prior to allowing me to speak.
Nothing but silence. Just like the silence that was forced upon the citizens online, held at arms length.
So much for being fortunate to be able to listening, huh, Curt?
Myself and two others were muted and silenced. Just like the voices of the protesters Star Robb and Satura Dudley were silenced just prior to the peaceful July 4th protest. Just like EJ Bradford’s voice was silenced by the Hoover Police Department.
You see, that’s the hypocritical part in all this. You’re either listening or your not. You can’t have it both ways. Instead of listening to what myself and others had to say, then simply saying “We cannot comment on ongoing legal matters” and moving to the next person (rinse and repeat), you silenced us.
At least pretend to care, Curt. Speak up and allow for the people to be heard so you can do what you do best — listen!
But no, you just sat there, along with the rest of the city council.
Silent. Complicit. As the voices of those who you represent were silenced.
But, you see, Curt, this is 2020. This is the year everyone has had to stay home, had to slow down and took the time to look around. They get to see what you, Gene, and the council are doing. They get to see you silencing your citizens, silencing peaceful protesters, and the intimidation tactics by your police force who are brandishing assault rifles on peaceful protesters.
And all you had to do was actively listen.
Well, now the people are listening. And they don’t like what they are hearing about you, Curt. Not one bit.
EDIT: It’s now after 1am. And, well, Curt — I guess you win. You get me to call you a name. Not an off the cuff name. Not an ill-timed, tirade-driven name. No, a well thought out, well researched, and measured one.
Part of what also started this article was a back and forth with (presumably) Curt on his campaign page (https://www.facebook.com/poseyforplace1/) on this thread (https://www.facebook.com/poseyforplace1/posts/2945674562219256).
Here’s the screenshot:
But you won’t find those comments now. Why? Because Curt, a public official, has now blocked me on Facebook and deleted our discussion from the post on his campaign page.
Silenced. Yet again.
But, I guess, that’s what you can expect from someone who claims to listen, but doesn’t. I guess Curt is a hypocrite on this matter.
