City Clerk Heather Stasny previewed the new public comment restrictions at City Council today. She said:
I just want to remind the public that on October 1st is when the new changes to the public comment policy will go into effect....(Mayor Gunter could not hear) ...
the public comment that Council approved months ago will go into effect October 1st. Just to remind citizens they will need to sign in for public comment before the meeting. Speakers will be called in the order that they signed up giving priority to citizens of San Angelo first. The times to speak remain the same at three minutes. Comments must be directed to Council. Questioning of staff is not appropriate at that time, of course Council has no obligation to respond and comments must be relevant to the authority of the city.
They will sign up with City Clerk or the deputy, which will be right here (the staff desk next to the raised City Council seating) before the meeting starts.
The new rules mean citizens will not be able to respond to any comments by the Mayor or Councilmembers during an agenda item. Their positions on any item are not included in the background packet.
Council practice is for the Mayor to interject her thoughts first on agenda items. It takes a brave Councilmember to challenge her position, thus most members avoid comment during the meeting.
Today's City Council had few members of the public in attendance. One person referenced the permission to speak change and wondered how to do that. That opened the door for staff to preview the new rules.
Listening to someone (who took the time out of their day to attend) for three minutes is a small gift for an elected official/public servant to grant. I imagine Council watchers got the hint that citizen feedback is generally unwanted.
Government should be responsive to the people. It will be interesting to see what happens when an item compels many people to attend. Will the rules cause complications, extending the meeting length to deal with the new bureaucracy?
We shall find out how these "reasonable rules" work when many citizens wish to have their voice heard on an agenda item.
