Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Civic Process topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Council rejects rule change to guarantee three minutes for public comment
Summary
A proposal to amend council rules to guarantee up to three minutes per public comment (and add explicit wording about ADA accommodations) failed on a 4–8 roll‑call vote after public testimony about accessibility, meeting timing and chair discretion.
The council on Dec. 16 voted down a proposed rules change that would have guaranteed up to three minutes for each public comment and included language about allowing extra time for commenters with disabilities.
Councilor Daniel Carlino proposed the change, saying a firm three‑minute rule would bring predictability and fairness to public participation. During public comment and council debate, speakers urged both consistency and accommodations: advocates for people with disabilities and Summit Independent Living emphasized that explicit wording about extra time for disability‑related needs affirmed equal access and compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act. City Clerk Claire Trimble noted the city is already subject to ADA requirements and proactively provides reasonable accommodations such as assistive listening devices and staff assistance on request.
Nut graf: Councilors split on whether to remove chair discretion and codify a strict time allotment; proponents argued three minutes is a reasonable minimum that improves equity and predictability, while opponents said rare circumstances make chair discretion necessary to manage long hearings and repeated testimony on the same item.
A roll‑call vote recorded four yea votes and eight nays, so the motion to change Council Rule 2 did not pass. Several councilors said they remain open to further discussion about public‑comment timing, meeting order and accessibility practices outside the rule‑change motion.
