Lewisville council agrees to limited AV use for public speakers, tightens speaker protocol
Get AI-powered insights, summaries, and transcripts
Subscribe
Summary
After a workshop presentation and peer-city survey, council members agreed to allow limited AV (PDF only, no audio/video/external links) for certain public speakers with a midweek submission deadline; visitor forum AV use will remain disallowed and speaker name/city (not full address) will be required on the record.
City Secretary Tianna Permalone presented proposed revisions to Lewisville's speaker protocol and a survey of peer cities' practices, and council members reached consensus on a narrowly tailored change to AV use and some procedural clarifications.
"Our current policy was adopted in 2019," Permalone said, presenting suggested modifications including allowing applicants 10 minutes with a 5-minute rebuttal, other speakers five minutes, and regular and visitor forum speakers three minutes with translator accommodations.
The staff survey found varied AV practices across neighboring cities. Permalone said some cities restrict AV to applicants, others allow broader use, and Pro-active vetting is common: "They're required to submit these presentations in advance so that we can do a cyber security check," she said.
Council members emphasized cybersecurity and equitable access. One member argued visitor forum presenters should not receive AV access because of short time limits and limited vetting, while others noted benefits of allowing presenters to project material to the room. The council coalesced around a compromise: allow non-applicant speakers to use the AV system in public hearings only when responding to an applicant's presentation, limited to a PDF with no audio, no video and no external links, and subject to IT vetting with a submission deadline (Wednesday by 5 p.m. or equivalent) to give staff time to review.
"Then we will allow it ... the time frames here and that for another, a speaker who is speaking to the applicant's position can take their 5 minutes and present using a PDF with no external links, no video, no audio," the presiding officer summarized after discussion.
The council left visitor forum AV use unchanged (no AV) and agreed to require speakers to give only their name and city aloud (addresses remain on speaker cards and available via open-records request). Staff will return final policy language for adoption following the workshop consensus.