The public participation was blocked before the vote because the public SHOULD NOT have any say in who the Aldermen choose as their president. What business is it of the public's (or the people that were instructed to come by a particular candidate) to have a say in whom the Aldermen choose to head their body?
That said, the public did have a chance to talk after the vote and could have made any comment they wanted regarding the outcome or the need for a special and NO ONE stood up.
"What business is it of the public's (or the people that were instructed to come by a particular candidate) to have a say in whom the Aldermen choose to head their body?"
It's absolutely the public's business. Every bit of this is the public's business, and the fact that you claim otherwise is revealing, both of who you are and why you are posting.
Does the public get a say when the House of Representatives chooses it's speaker? Or when the Senate chooses it's President? It is the body's internal choice. Any public comment can be done by sending letters or emails or making phone calls to the Aldermen ahead of time.
When has the public had a say in years past? It doesn't work that way. The Aldermen where choosing their president and a few citizens who decided to come down should not be granted outsize influence over the process. Also, it wouldn't have changed jack. Anyone who wanted to speak could have done so after the vote and said their piece. They didn't. Must not have been that important to them when they couldn't use it as a platform to stump for Monica
Your cryptic message is interesting but there are actual facts to consider. Politicians don't get to call "slander." Defamation isn't a thing if you're a public figure, except under the most narrow of legal possibilities. So calling "slander" says you are probably one of the Dolanites now offended by what's coming home to roost.
It was "cryptic" for a reason, but in your reply you have it exactly backwards. It was ugly, it was not atypical, and it was not behind a closed door. That help you any?