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Residents ask council to revise public‑comment rules; council agrees to study policy
Summary
Members of the public urged Lincoln City Council to revise its public‑comment rules to allow follow‑up questions and more deliberation during meetings; council said it would consider the issue and place an educational item on a future agenda.
Two Lincoln residents urged the City Council on June 10 to revise the rules governing public comments to allow more interaction between speakers and council or staff during meetings.
Jason Daggett asked that when a speaker uses only part of an allotted three minutes and staff or council answer, the speaker be allowed to use the remainder of the time for follow‑up questions. He cited the Brown Act’s emphasis on reasonable public comment and deliberation and said current procedures discourage collaborative discussion.
Mayor Andreatta replied that the city can take such suggestions under advisement but emphasized legal limits: matters not on the posted agenda cannot be the subject of extended deliberation under the Brown Act. She said if a public comment rises to the level of requiring an agenda item, the council can add it to a future agenda; she also said administrative constraints make unlimited after‑the‑fact discussion impractical.
Later in the meeting a council member suggested placing an educational item on a future agenda to clarify public‑comment procedures. Council agreed to schedule discussion and education about the city’s public‑comment rules at a future meeting.
