By The Huffington Post News Editors
A Republican state senator in North Carolina told a newspaper publisher to “be quiet” during a public hearing Tuesday on legislation that could shift public notification of local government actions online and away from print.
A State and Local Government Committee of the state Senate held a meeting on legislation to allow county and municipal governments to publish public notices only on their websites became heated when a local newspaper publisher sought a recorded vote on the bill, the Raleigh News and Observer reported. Hal Tanner, publisher of the Goldsboro News-Argus, had argued that a voice vote showed the bill failing by one vote, while committee co-chairman Sen. Tommy Tucker (R-Waxhaw) said the bill had passed and the rules did not allow for a recorded vote. During the dispute with Tanner, Tucker proceeded to tell the publisher that it was not his place to comment.
“I am the senator, you are the citizen. You need to be quiet,” Tucker said.
From: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/04/17/tommy-tucker-north-carolina_n_3101083.html