Editor’s Note: This article is now complete.
The Super Bowl has a pregame show because it’s the biggest football game of the year. Tonight’s Danville City Council meeting is the equivalent of the Super Bowl (except the outcome is already known here).
This article will have photos, commentary and happenings from anything that is going on before the 7:00 PM meeting starts. Refresh the page often for the latest. We’ll have a separate article with our LIVE! coverage of the meeting. We’ll clean this article up once we get home and add lots of bonus coverage. Let’s get started.
The media was asked to be in place by 6:30 PM. So of course, I arrive at 4:40 PM. I’m glad I did because there were already people sitting in the gallery.
5:20 PM – Notice the new fire occupancy limit sign on the back wall. A few good seats are still available.
5:25 PM and we’re near capacity. The Fire Marshals are here for the first time ever because of the potential for overflow crowds. I was asked to find out who made the request for the marshals to be here and was told that the fire marshals themselves made this decision because of the potential for a fire safety hazard. There’s no sinister plot here to suppress people’s rights to attend and comment.
Assistant Fire Marshal Richie Guill starts the official counting.
Originally, the rules said that if you left council chambers, you weren’t guaranteed to have your seat back and could be out. The fire marshals also said that that there would be no loitering in the halls or bathrooms. A few people pointed out that meant that you couldn’t go to the bathroom. After further discussion with the police department, they decided once capacity was reached that the building would be locked and whoever was inside could stay on the fourth floor and move freely there. That made a lot more sense.
This 132 number is based on available seating and the size of the room. This number includes council members, city staff, police officers and the fire marshals themselves.
There were about 20 more seats available when I went outside to see what was happening around the building around 5:40 PM. As I was walking back in, I saw a group of flag supporters just milling around the side entrance. I told them that seats were going fast and they had better get moving before the place was full. Unfortunately for them, they had waited too long outside and didn’t get a seat.
Once the capacity limit was reached, the building was locked as planned. Officials were on safe legal ground to do that because City Hall closes at 5PM so the doors would normally be locked after that time. Around 6:45 PM I got word that a crowd of people were starting to get agitated outside of the side entrance so I went over there to look out the window.
Here’s the crowd that’s building around the side entrance.
The Danville Police Department was top-notch before, during and after this entire meeting as I totally expected them to be. They had uniformed officers that were highly visible, as well as plainclothed officers too.
The council members start to take there seats around 6:51 PM and an there’s eerie hush of silence. It’s like a funeral home now. I’ll close this article out and start updating the LIVE! article now.
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