Residents urge written public testimony and council reappoints climate committee, names committee rosters; meetings to start at 6:30 p.m.

Several residents used the public-comment period to ask the Friendship Heights Village council to add or encourage written public testimony and to commit to responding to submitted comments. Roger Cocheti recommended the council allow and encourage written testimony, make submissions public on the village website, and consider lifting the three-minute limit for those who submit written statements. Dan Dozier echoed the recommendation and added that written submissions should receive responses rather than disappear “into the ether.” The council said it would seriously consider the suggestion.

Public commenter Mike Dorsey criticized the recently elected council members for campaign rhetoric and said he would attend future meetings to call out what he described as inappropriate conduct; the comments prompted a brief response from a council member emphasizing a desire to work together going forward.

On committee business, the mayor nominated and the council approved the reappointment of the ad hoc committee on climate change and environment for its existing members: Patricia Knessa, Chris Nauer, Sonya Starnes and Thomas Bridal. The council appointed Mayor Roy Schafer as the village representative to the Citizens Coordinating Committee on Friendship Heights and approved committee rosters for finance (including the treasurer and a returning council member), parks and grounds (including Chair Martha Sowell and two returning members) and public safety (including Francine Klein as chair). The finance committee appointment was recorded as 7 to 0; other committee approvals were recorded as unanimous.

Chair Sowell said the council agreed to move future meeting start times to 6:30 p.m. in an effort to end meetings earlier and encouraged residents to submit comments by email so every council member receives them.

These action items were procedural in nature: the climate committee was reappointed, committee memberships were set, the village’s representative to an external coordinating committee was named, and the council changed meeting start time. No new policy changes were adopted during these agenda items.