Bartlesville council asks staff to draft clearer meeting rules after public-comment debate

The Bartlesville City Council asked staff to draft a working document to clarify how public comment, decorum, accessibility and residency requirements are handled at council meetings after a workshop at which public speakers pressed opposing views on surveillance cameras and on who may speak during meetings.

Why it matters: changes to council rules would affect who can address the council, how long speakers may talk, where people may film meetings, and how the council handles potentially disruptive behavior. Council rules intersect with the Oklahoma Open Meeting Act; members emphasized any changes must stay content neutral and consistent with state law.

Council staff said the working document will be distributed to council members for redline comments and published for public review. The staff summary presented several options: keep public comment at every meeting, limit public comment to agenda items, or allow both agenda-based comment and a separate general public-comment period. Staff also flagged operational changes such as an accessible podium, designated space for photographers, and a clarified code of conduct for speakers.

Council members expressed differing views over whether public comment should be limited to city residents. One council member said many speakers from outside the city consume city services and pay sales taxes in Bartlesville and therefore should retain the right to comment; others said their constituents want limits to ensure residents’ concerns are prioritized. Staff said changing who may speak would require an even-handed review and could require changing related board or committee rules.

Specific topics raised during the workshop included:

- Time limits and total public-comment windows: council members asked staff to model scenarios (for example, a fixed total public-comment block split among sign-ups or multiple comment periods tied to agenda items). - Decorum and enforcement: council members said the mayor needs clear, written standards for disruptive behavior and removal procedures so enforcement is less subjective. - Accessibility and logistics: staff and council discussed adding a handicap-accessible podium, relocating photographers to avoid blocking egress, and reserving a space for press camera positions. - Meeting length: council members discussed whether to adopt a maximum meeting length or to require continuation of business to a later date when meetings run long.

The council directed staff to prepare a draft resolution that consolidates suggested rules, publish that draft for public input, and return with a compiled set of council redlines for further discussion. Staff said the municipality’s charter already allows citizens to pursue initiative or referendum petitions and cited a draft threshold (Article 7 language was discussed) that typically involves a substantial percentage of registered voters for an initiative; staff said they would provide exact petition thresholds and procedures.

No formal ordinance or rule change was adopted at the workshop. Council members said they expect staff to circulate a draft and to present options at a future meeting once public feedback and council redlines are compiled.