Tooele City attorney proposes clearer deadlines, rules for written public comments

City Attorney Matthew Johnson told the Tooele City Council on Feb. 4 that proposed revisions to the city’s public comment policy would clarify when written comments must be filed and make them subject to the same rules that apply to in-person remarks. The policy was last amended in 2024.

Johnson said the draft policy would allow written comments to be submitted to the city recorder or to a designated email address and initially set a deadline of 5:00 p.m. the day before the meeting. He told the council the rules for verbal comments — prohibitions on obscene or abusive language, and a requirement that comments be relevant to council business — would also apply to written submissions and that the chair could disregard anonymous, obscene or off-topic written items. "It clarifies that written comments can be submitted to the city recorder or to the email address," Johnson said.

Councilmembers asked whether the 5:00 p.m. cutoff would disadvantage people who work during the day. One member suggested using the end of the calendar day to make the deadline clearer; Johnson said he and City Recorder Shiloh Baker had discussed that option and would return the policy with a revised deadline. The attorney also explained that the policy treats public hearings differently from the open public comment period: written comments submitted after a hearing deadline cannot be carried forward, while late submissions for the open comment period could be held for the next meeting.

Council members did not act on the policy at the work meeting; Johnson said he would bring the revised language back with a resolution for the business meeting. The council also asked staff to ensure public notice and to post any updated filing rules (for example, a notice on building-permit pages when fees change).