Who gets the last word becomes a controversy at the Board of Supervisors.

It is an understatement to say that things can get tense in local politics. Oftentimes that plays out in closed-door meetings as disagreements (over policies or personalities) are hashed out. Sometimes, it plays out very publicly.

There have been a few of those tense moments lately at the Board of Supervisors dais, a place where tension is welcome and expected – the public’s business is of course subject to disagreements. But it is sometimes taking on a personal tone.

When the board met on Tuesday, Jan. 27, one item on the day’s agenda was to approve a $100,000 allocation from District 1 County Supervisor Luis Alejo’s discretionary fund as seed money for an Alisal arch, similar to the downtown Salinas arch. As Alejo noted, the idea came from years of planning discussions, culminating in the Alisal Vibrancy Plan which, on page 201, states, “the community has requested an archway entrance on Alisal.” But given the many pressing needs of District 1, many people spoke in fierce opposition, arguing the arch was wasteful or insulting.

During the public comment period, one man rose to the microphone for his two minutes. Instead of addressing the arch, he got personal and addressed Alejo: “You’re not even looking at me. How is that a sign of respect? You can at least have the decency, integrity to look someone in the eyes when someone is talking to you.”

Applause followed his remarks, prompting Supervisor Wendy Root Askew, chair of the board, to chastise members of the public. “We discuss a lot of issues at this dais,” she said. “We don’t always agree on things but we work really hard to focus on the policy and to disagree respectfully… I do ask that we maintain decorum.”

Her plea did not stop somebody in the room from shouting over Alejo just a few minutes later.

Alejo responded, “I have been doing this for a while and I know how to take criticism, and I appreciate it. I can take it.”

Easier said than done, even though a thick skin would seem to be a bare-minimum requirement to be an elected official.

Two weeks later, when the board met on Tuesday, Feb. 10, some members of the public returned to use their two minutes at the microphone to revisit the arch. Root Askew opened the public comment period by saying, “We welcome everyone,” she said. “These chambers belong to the public and the people. We do our best to demonstrate respect.”

Of course, members of the public get their time to say whatever they want. The public comment period invites the elected officials at the dais to just listen.

Peter Szalai of Salinas spoke about the arch and ended with a directive to Alejo: “Stop embarrassing yourself,” Szalai said. Another speaker, Lorna Moffat, directly addressed the District 2 supervisor, Glenn Church, in her remarks about eucalyptus tree removal in North County. “You, Mr. Church, are leading this witch hunt and creating a terrible, terrible catastrophe,” Moffat said. “We have got to start planting trees and saving them, not cutting them down like you are, so gaily emphasizing that these trees need to go.”

How much the elected officials should just take the heat without engaging their critics emerged as its own hot topic. Alejo began to address his haters, but Root Askew, the chair, moved on with the day’s agenda.

Each meeting wraps up, sometimes hours later, with an opportunity for each board member to make comments. They often use this time to provide an account of their itinerary – they’ve been to galas and ribbon cuttings, and they advertise upcoming community meetings. On Feb. 10, it included a back-and-forth about who should get the last word. Alejo called Root Askew’s process “unfair” and “arbitrary.” He argued he should get time to respond directly to critics in the moment.

Root Askew said her motivation was to move efficiently through the agenda and she wanted to honor the public comment period as a no-holds-barred forum: “This chamber, it belongs to our public – to make it a place where they know they belong, is a priority for me.”

In the end, Church got the last word: “I just do want to state for the record that I do love trees. I have probably planted more than anyone in the county, and have done it with gaiety.”

SARA RUBIN is the Weekly’s editor. Reach her at sara@montereycountynow.com.