Voter league urges commission to press county-funded agencies to allow public comment

At the meeting, a representative of the Bibb County Voters League told the Macon-Bibb County Commission that the league is working to ensure citizens have opportunities to address public officials and asked the commission to press county-funded agencies to restore or expand public-comment opportunities.

Ms. Lucas, speaking for the 50-year-old voter-service organization, said the league was "pleased that these grants are continuing to come" despite concerns about federal- or state-level changes. She said the league has worked with planning and zoning and the Macon Water Authority to broaden public access to speak at meetings.

Ms. Lucas told the commission that the Macon Transit Authority has "backtracked" and now "only allow[s] comments on agenda items," a change she said reduces public access when residents do not know agenda items in advance. She asked the commission, as a funding partner, to take a position with the transit authority to restore broader public-comment opportunities.

Ms. Lucas also raised an allegation that "one of your citizens was suspended from par transit service" and urged the commission to look into that case. She said the voter league wants agencies that receive county funds to permit public comment on agenda and non-agenda items.

Mayor Lester M. Miller and the commission acknowledged the comments; the meeting record shows the commission heard the remarks but did not take an immediate formal vote or direct staff to a specific remedy at the meeting.

Ms. Lucas described the Bibb County Voters League as a long-standing local organization focused on voter registration and civic engagement and said it had advocated for procedural changes, such as adding public-comment time to planning and zoning meetings. Her remarks were part of the meeting's public-comment period and did not result in immediate action recorded in the meeting minutes.