Editor, Gazette-Journal:
I’m writing to express concern about holding public meetings in Mathews Historic Courthouse. On Oct. 10, there was a joint meeting of the Mathews Board of Supervisors and Planning Commission in the old courthouse. The meeting started at 7 and my husband arrived a few minutes early. The old courthouse was full with standing room only, but he was interested in the agenda, so he managed to slide in and stand on the inside of the old swinging doors. The meeting started and several others attempted to squeeze in until they squeezed him right out the door.
The next “public meeting” of the board of supervisors took place on Oct. 24, also in the historic courthouse. I arrived just as the meeting started and already people on the inside were pressed against the swinging doors, trying to stay in. I stood outside for a few minutes looking in the windows of the doors to see a full house of people standing with little or no space between them. Deciding I didn’t want to be t...