Officials want less rudeness at meetings

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BELLEVILLE, Ill., Aug. 9 (UPI) -- The mayor of a an Illinois town said he is considering the formation of a committee charged with restoring civility to City Council meetings.

Belleville Mayor Mark Eckert said his opponents for the office, Aldermen Phil Elmore and Joe Hayden, also support revisiting the city's policies on public participation in City Council meetings after residents have called city leaders "Nazis" and "thieves" during meetings, the Belleville News Democrat reported Thursday.

"I didn't want people to think, 'Well, the mayor just can't take the criticism,' but now I think they're all starting to see it," Eckert said.

All three mayoral contenders said they don't want to limit free speech, but they want to ensure public participation adds to the discourse constructively instead of causing animosity.