City Council Candidate Kicked Out Of County Commissioners Court
DALLAS (CBSDFW.COM) - There were more fireworks at the Dallas County Commissioners Court Tuesday when a public speaker addressing the court was forcibly removed because he went beyond his three-minute time limit.
Richard Sheridan is a Dallas City Council candidate and self-appointed government watchdog. He spoke on what he considers the dangers of computerized elections. And when a speaker's timing device went off, the court pulled his plug.
"Am I being removed because I went five seconds over?" he asked. Then he turned his attention to Commissioner John Wiley Price. "Is that what this is all about, Mr. Price? Is this your court or the people's court Mr. Price? Is this your court or the peoples' court?"
County Judge Clay Jenkins says he believes Sheridan "acted out" because he's a council candidate. "I can only surmise he is running for office and wants coverage and so he did that, possibly, for coverage," Jenkins told CBS 11, "There's no intent on anyone's part to remove Mr. Sheridan until he lost his temper and did what you saw here in court with our security person."
Jenkins insists he frequently gives speakers a little leeway when it comes to finishing a thought. "I allow them to finish their sentence when the beep goes off, I allowed him (Sheridan) to finish his sentence he went a couple of sentences over, I tapped my gavel to tell him his time was up and he lost his composure. And security removed him."
"I'll be kind; he misrepresented the truth," said Sheridan, who says he lost his cool because it was Commissioner John Wiley Price who waved to security officers to remove him, not Judge Jenkins. "He's just trying to discredit me; I'm very known in this city for taking on controversial subjects."
Sheridan is also well known at city hall besides just running for city council. He admits he's been thrown out of the city council chamber on two occasions, back in 2005 then again four months ago. Sheridan, though, says it's a case of shooting the messenger. "This is politics, (if) they don't like the message, make the messenger look like a bad person. "
Later Tuesday the public information officer for the courts released a clarification of the morning's events:
"The Commissioners Court welcomes public debate and differing opinions. There isn't a court in the land that would allow disruption and outbursts to rule the day. Mr. Sheridan is acutely aware of the Court Order that gives speakers a maximum of three minutes to speak before being beeped. Today Mr. Sheridan heard the beep, kept talking, and when the gabble (sic) went down respectfully, he continued to speak, then the gabble (sic) went down a SECOND time and he was finally removed."
