Metro’s Beat the Clock

I get that yesterday's meeting was long. And I get that speaker's speaking for a longer time than one minute per comment would have only made it longer, but I do have to say I was irked by Metro's own version of Beat the Clock that every speaker had to get through.

By cutting speakers off in mid-sentence, chiding translators for going over the two minute limit given to foreign speakers, and generally seeming more concerned about holding everyone to a time limit than hearing their point; Chairwoman O'Connor does Metro and the public a disservice.

How to fix it? Simple. Kill the giant overhead clock which often started before speakers began to speak (only Damien Goodmon called them on it, standing there repeating, "I haven't started speaking yet as the clocked ticked away until it was reset), and have a small buzzer go off. Let the speaker finish his sentence without rushing through a sentence asquicklyasthespeakercan.

Generally, our elected aristocracy should at least have the decorum to treat us like adults. Metro is a government organization, and since this is a Democracy the views of the peasants have to count for something.