Lawton council moves public comment to end of meetings after debate over 'weaponization' of audience participation

The Lawton City Council voted to move audience participation to the end of the council meeting agenda following a lengthy public comment period and debate among council members about the scope and decorum of public remarks.

The policy discussion was prompted by audience remarks that several council members described as politically motivated attacks against sitting council members. The council asked the city clerk to survey peer cities and directed staff and the city attorney to return with options for enforcing audience-participation rules.

Several residents used the three‑minute public‑comment slots to urge the council to preserve robust citizen access to meetings. Cindy McIntyre said she supported public participation but criticized what she described as council moves that “limit that participation” after citizens began attending evening meetings in larger numbers. “If you want more citizen participation, but you don't like what you hear, you find ways to limit that participation,” McIntyre said.

An organizer who identified themself in the meeting record as Kacine told the council that the city had been slow to address multiple concerns, and said she viewed the audience‑participation debate as a distraction from issues such as West Wind and other outstanding grievances.

Matina Prudhomme, a third speaker, told the council she believed the problem was not citizens’ behavior but “a breakdown in our government,” and urged the council to focus on restoring order and public trust rather than curtailing comment.

Council members said the item was necessary because public comment had been increasingly used during campaign season to single out individual council members. Councilman Warren said public comment was not intended to be political and said citizens would be better served by using staff channels for service issues. “If you've got a problem, send an email to every single council person,” Warren said, suggesting that staff processes could more quickly resolve operational complaints.

City staff reported results of a peer-city check: Norman, Moore and Midwest City hold audience participation similarly to Lawton; Broken Arrow accepts written comments online and reads them into the record; Edmond permits public participation but places it at the end of the meeting; Enid does not hold public participation. The clerk’s summary was used by some council members to argue there are several lawful, tested models to consider.

Council members adopted a motion to move audience participation to the end of the agenda and asked the city attorney to draft enforcement language; the mayor said she would bring back a proposed enforcement approach for council review. The motion passed on voice/roll-call vote as recorded during the meeting.

Ending: The council’s immediate procedural change—placing public comment at the end of the agenda—will be in effect while staff and the city attorney prepare options for enforcing decorum and addressing complaints of politically motivated or disruptive remarks. The council said it intends to protect residents’ access while reducing disruptions to meeting business.