Policy committee recommends limits on public-comment time, updates sign-up form

The Policy and Procedures Committee on Sept. 22 recommended changes to the county’s public-comment procedures, including a prohibition on donating speaking time to another person, a per-person time limit for full commission meetings and an updated sign-up form that specifies county residency. The committee approved sending the package to the legislative committee and then to the full commission.

The committee said the proposed changes are meant to clarify long-standing informal practices and limit extended remarks that members said have slowed meetings. Under the recommendation the full commission would set maximums for number of speakers and minutes per speaker; committee members discussed recommending a cap that would allow up to 10 speakers total at a full commission meeting with three minutes per speaker as a possible default.

The committee also examined two sign-up-sheet formats. Members asked that the form used for committees and the form used for the full commission explicitly show county residency so that only Coffee County residents sign up to speak. Staff said the revised form includes a longer narrative field intended to make later review of public-comment topics easier.

The committee inserted a single-sentence prohibition intended to stop repeated time transfers at the lectern: "No donation of speaking time may be extended to another speaker." Members instructed staff to finalize the language and circulate it by email; once cleared by the committee staff will forward the revision to the legislative committee and then to the full commission for adoption.

No statute or outside legal citation was cited during the discussion; committee members said the change responds to state guidance but did not name a statute. The committee agreed to post the revised sign-up form and the public-comment rules so attendees would have notice before full-commission meetings.