Drew Rieger had six points he wanted to make during a virtual Planning Commission meeting last week about an out-of-town developer’s plan to buy a landmark church in Mount Vernon and sell the adjacent office building.

The Mount Vernon resident, who lives half a block from the historic church, wrote down exactly what he wanted to say to the commission. He got on his computer and clicked on the Cisco Webex link for the meeting long before the church item came up on the agenda.

He sat through a lengthy staff presentation about the developer’s proposal, waiting for his chance to be heard. But when the chairman opened the floor for public testimony, he never got to speak.

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