Eric Urbanowicz of Middlesex Township was wrong in causing a disturbance Dec. 20 at a township supervisors meeting.

Urbanowicz, like every other resident of the township, has a right to address his municipality's elected leaders and comment on past and pending actions, but it should be done in an orderly, respectful way.

That wasn't what happened at the meeting in question, and Urbanowicz deserved to be ejected from it.

That said, Urbanowicz' overly vocal concerns Dec. 20 over the amount and duration of supervisors' executive sessions should not be lost amid the issue of Urbanowicz' being out of order.

Middlesex shouldn't need the "excessive" number of executive sessions to which Urbanowicz alluded last week. Perhaps it should be eye-opening to township residents that supervisor Alonzo Van Atta refused to answer Urbanowicz when the resident asked whether items other than personnel matters were discussed in a closed session that followed the supervisors' November meeting.

If nothing else was discussed, Van Atta should have said so.

Urbanowicz hasn't been happy with Middlesex leaders for the past eight years or so for a number of reasons and has attended many supervisors meetings.

Still, he should contain his temper when in such a public forum as a show of respect toward the municipal governing process, even if not for those occupying the government positions.

Other residents should not have to experience reluctance about attending their supervisors' meetings because of concerns over the possibility of heated vocal exchanges or actual violence.

During the Dec. 20 meeting, township manager Scot Fodi called 911 to summon township police to the meeting in reaction to Urbanowicz banging on the podium and using expletives in the process of making allegations. But by the time an officer arrived, the meeting had been adjourned and Urbanowicz had left the building.

When contacted by a Butler Eagle reporter on Friday, Urbanowicz remained adamant in his stated positions that the supervisors have been wrong in a number of ways, including discussing in executive sessions items that they are not legally permitted to discuss, and manipulating the minutes of some meetings to exclude his comments.

Meeting minutes are supposed to accurately reflect what occurred during a meeting, and executive sessions should be the exception, not the rule.

"This is a story about credibility, character and integrity," Urbanowicz said. "I have never lied. They have. I've never broken the law. They have. It's sad they have done what they've done."

But Urbanowicz' outburst at the Dec. 20 meeting also was sad, and some municipal officials elsewhere, faced with what Middlesex officials faced that day, would have demanded that he be arrested immediately.

Urbanowicz' right to complain about the way Middlesex supervisors conduct township business remains intact, at least for now. But if he can't do so in the right way — respectfully, courteously and without expletive-laced allegations — he should stay home or be denied admittance.

There is no room for compromise on that point.