Editor’s Note: Joseph Guffanti today expressed his objection to being named as one of a number of local activists who often assume a combative tone when addressing the City Council “You picked on the wrong guy, slimeball. I’ll take care of you,” Guffanti said to Inside Vero editor Mark Schumann at City Hall this morning.
COMMENTARY
MARK SCHUMANN
Our Doberman puppy, Angel, has an insatiable appetite for attention. In this one respect, she reminds me of the frequent performers at City Council meetings. They just cannot seem to get enough attention.
To the person, the gentlemen to whom I am referring have either served on the City Council and lost re-election, lost their seat by court order, or have run unsuccessfully.
Frustrated that they are not sitting at the dais, these gentlemen, namely Joseph Guffanti, Brian Heady and Charlie Wilson, flaunt City Code governing public comment and decorum at Council meetings. They abuse their right to speak in order to interject themselves in discussion and debate well beyond what is provided for in City Code.
Often, Guffanti, Heady and Wilson become argumentative, disruptive and boisterous. They use their time in the spotlight to attack individual Council members in violation of City Code. They do this, I suspect, to maintain their name recognition with an eye on the next election.
The fundamental question is whether the purpose of public business meetings is to conduct the people’s business, or to provide therapy for a few individuals who crave attention.
Mayor Richard Winger has placed an item on this week’s City Council agenda, asking his fellow Council members what, if anything, they think should be done to restore decorum, purposefulness and efficiently to Council meetings.
Heady, who has previously been arrested in the past for disrupting government meetings, is on the agenda again this week. How long does he plan to speak? “As long as it takes,” he indicated in a written answer he provided the City Clerk.
Because the Council has important work to do, Winger deserves the support of his fellow Council members, as he attempts to address the perplexing question of how to provide for appropriate public comment without allowing a few individuals to turn Council meetings into circus sideshows.
Indian River Guardian 
In one word,”exhibitionist”, I think says it all. No, I retract that. Two words, the second being selfishness. Making others sit through chronic inane, tedious, rantings and ravings shows a total disrespect for others’ valuable time. My dog also craves attention, when told to lie down, does so.
P.S. Meant to say after “attention”, “….,however at least when told to lie down, he does so, unlike the exhibitionists.
Respect. It’s a two-way street, and no one is entitled to take up more than a reasonable amount of time at government meetings. I suppose “reasonable” means different things to different folks. Those who serve us have a lot of different items to handle – not just mine or his or theirs. We can make our point with fewer words and will be remembered kindly for it.