Raleigh council reviews public-comment rules, debates ban on digital media and timing

Raleigh council members spent more than an hour on Monday debating changes to the city’s public-comment process, including whether to bar video and other digital media from being played during meetings and whether to change the time and length of the city’s dedicated public‑comment sessions.

The discussion produced a clear request from a majority of councilors: staff should draft a policy that would stop the in‑chamber playing of digital videos during public comment while preserving ways for speakers to submit images or materials to the city ahead of time for council review.

Deputy City Attorney Patty (named in materials as the deputy city attorney) told the council of the narrow legal margin that applies when government limits speech in public comment. “One statute, 168.81.1 tells cities that they must have at least 1 period for public comment each month at a regular meeting of the council,” she said, adding that the law allows “reasonable rules” about length and order but also warned that legal and technical risks attend allowing outside media to be shown on city…