Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Public Comment Policy topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Northampton Housing Authority suspends public comment during ongoing investigation
Summary
The board voted to continue a suspension of public comment citing an active investigation; commissioners discussed the policy and options for future public-comment parameters.
The Northampton Housing Authority board said it is suspending public comment “for the time being” to avoid jeopardizing an ongoing investigation, the board chair told attendees at the May 19 meeting.
The move followed questions from commissioners and attendees about how long the suspension would last and whether the board could limit or eliminate public comment permanently. The chair said the suspension was advised to “not threaten the integrity of the investigation so that we may successfully forge our way through this.”
Commissioner Jones noted that board procedure training earlier in the year had identified eliminating public comment as an option and that other housing authorities in the Commonwealth do not hold public comment sessions. Commissioner Carney and others said they did not want to reopen the issue at that meeting. The chair said when public comment is restored it would be returned with “specific parameters,” and that discussion of those parameters was not on the current agenda.
No formal motion to change the board’s public-comment policy was made at the meeting; the suspension remained in effect pending the outcome of the described investigation.
