Commission narrows non-agenda public comments to three minutes and moves them to end of meetings

At its July 14 meeting the commission approved changes to the public-comment rules that shorten the time allowed for non-agenda speakers and change when those speakers will be heard.

Under the adopted change, persons speaking on topics not on the published agenda will be limited to three minutes each, and non-agenda comment will be heard at the end of the meeting. Speakers addressing items that remain on the published agenda will retain the existing five-minute allotment; if an item is removed from the agenda during the meeting, staff said the speaker would still retain the five-minute allocation to address that pulled agenda item.

The commission discussed competing concerns: some commissioners and members of the public said moving non-agenda items to the end prevents disruption of scheduled business and reduces the risk that large, organized groups could use non-agenda comment to congest the meeting. Others said moving non-agenda comment to the end of the meeting could discourage public participation because people may not be able to stay for multi-hour meetings. Commissioners debated whether moved items should retain full time allowances; the adopted language preserves five minutes for pulled agenda items and allows the chair discretion under the commission———————————'s rules to manage time in specific circumstances.

The motion to limit non-agenda comments to three minutes passed; a later amendment moving non-agenda speakers to the end of the meeting was approved by a 4-2 vote, according to the meeting record.

Ending: The rule change will be incorporated into the commission's public-comment procedures; staff said they will refine the draft language for final placement in the commission rules and clarify sign-up-sheet procedures to reflect the new sequence and time limits.