Bob McCarty Writes

Could it be that Steve McQueen was denied his Constitutional right to be heard at a Quincy, Ill., city council meeting because of the fact that he is the chief organizer of the Quincy Tea Party movement?  It sure appears that way.

It was the last thing McQueen expected to have happen when he appeared at the meeting last night.  But it did happen.  In a 7-6 vote down party lines, members of the Quincy City Council voted to deny him his right to speak, despite the fact that he had taken all of the proper steps required of a citizen to appear on the council’s agenda.

“I actually went last night with the idea that I was going to speak about our local city budget and a water-sewer increase,” McQueen told me this morning during a telephone interview.  “I did ask to speak prior to going and I was placed n the agenda, so I went in with the idea that it was a foregone conclusion that I would speak.  When I walked in and the vote happened, I was shocked.”

Shocked, yes.  But not deterred.

“I’m gonna request to speak again,” he said.  “This doesn’t change the fact that I went there for a reasons. The disturbing part is that I walked in going to speak on (water and sewer) issues and walked out, kind of, with a personal issue of the First Amendment.”

No actor, this McQueen is the real deal when it comes to being an All-American guy:  A 17-year resident of Quincy, he boasts 23 years of service in the Army, Marine Corps and National Guard; he works full-time as a purchasing for a mining company; and he runs a web site design business on the side.

Oh, and did I mention he has a family?  He and his wife Michelle have four children — three girls and a boy — who range from second-year college student to kindergarten scholar.

With so much going on in his personal life, one might be surprised that McQueen can find the time to be involved in the tea party movement.  But he does.

After the city council meeting adjourned last night, he was quick to post the following message on the Quincy Tea Party web site:

I want to offer my thanks to the QTP supporters that attended the City Council Meeting tonight. You were the epitome of peaceful, professional, and persistent! Your class was noted by all who attended.

I would also like to offer thanks to our Republican City Council Members for standing up for the to right to free speech.

We walked into the council chambers this evening to open dialogue with the City Council on the budget and fee increases and left wondering if the Constitution had been repealed and no one told us.

I assume the message is that once they vote on an issue it is no longer open for discussion! Doesn’t that happen in kingdoms rather than in democracies?

Tonight’s debacle allowed the voting citizens of Quincy to see what we are up against. If they don’t agree with the citizens, we will just vote them away. It is really not that easy.

In an effort to make it easier for his fellow citizens in Quincy to exercise their First Amendment rights, McQueen also posted contact information (above right) for members of the city council.

I suspect that, as a result of the Drudge Report picking up a Quincy (Ill.) News article about his experience, people involved in tea party movements across the nation will take advantage of the opportunity to contact those Democrats on the Quincy City Council who stomped on the Constitution last night.

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UPDATE 5/06/09 at 12:35 p.m. Central: Quincy (Ill.) Mayor John Spring appeared on WGEM radio’s Lee Sachs today to discuss the city council controversy that was the subject of the post above.  Click here to listen to the interview.

UPDATE 5/6/11 at 3:16 p.m. Central: See Quincy Tea Party Turns Table on City Council.

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