A question on the order of business led Macungie Borough Council into heated debates Sept. 17 regarding respect for the public voice and nearly resulting in the board vice president resigning from his office.

Greg Hutchison in the midst of council's discussion picked up his name- plate and removed it from its stand, tossing it onto the table and saying, "I'd like to step down as vice president. I don't think I'm doing a good job or whatever. So you can have it. I tried to make the council meetings run better and some people don't like change."

This followed a controversial move at the last meeting where President Jean Nagle shifted the agenda item allowing for public comment, traditionally placed at the opening of the meeting, to its end, immediately following all borough business. The issue was addressed Monday night by Debra Cope, who asserted such a change was beyond the president's authority and should have been voted on by council.

Hutchison supported Nagle, saying he wanted to hear the business of the borough first. Nagle called borough business the council's number one responsibility, but Cope and David Boyko are firmly on the side of public interest. Cope, who posits her research has shown no such power invested in the council president to move agenda items without a vote, argued residents should not be asked to wait three or four hours (as they were Sept. 17) to bring a concern to council's attention.

Public comment's slot on the agenda was voted on at the beginning of the president's term and adopted as part of the meeting guidelines, which Nagle states supercede the Robert's Rules of Order also used as a guideline to run meetings.

Cope is concerned Nagle's decision to move the item without majority vote places the council in violation of borough code, something she has researched with the Pennsylvania State Association of Boroughs. Both Boyko and Cope believe the new order excludes the public from involvement, something Boyko accused the vice president of willfully promoting "because he doesn't want to deal with the public."

Though Hutchison remains in his post of vice president and cannot be released without a formal vote from council, his initial suggestion to resign was met with scattered applause from a few audience members who did not hesitate from making their opinions heard, during public comment times or out of them.

Nagle backed her decision by asserting her right as president to move agenda items in the interest of facilitating the meeting, saying the new order allowed for council to "set the tone for discussion," and citing previous meetings where public comments have become out of order, something no one on council denied. "You have to agree, the setting has been calmer," Nagle said of the last meeting.

Council meetings of the last few months have indeed been marked by a less than decorous tone. Chris Becker noted, "There is a lot of decorum that isn't suitable for this meeting and it's a shame. I'm very upset with some of the content that goes on here, and it's from council too."

Becker expressed his desire to serve the borough, even if that meant taking his medicine every now and then, but the councilman was frustrated at the lack of time in recent meetings to devote to other interests of the borough, such as the downtown master plan.