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NCD governance committee proposes bylaw change to make in‑meeting public comment discretionary
Summary
The National Council on Disability's governance committee proposed amending bylaws so the chair may, but is not required to, open an in‑meeting public comment period; members raised concerns that the change could weaken the council's direct connection to community and asked staff to draft alternative language and check statutory obligations.
The National Council on Disability (NCD) governance committee presented a proposed bylaw amendment to make in‑meeting public comment discretionary rather than mandatory, prompting debate about how the council will gather meaningful input from people with disabilities.
Joan Durocher, speaking for the governance committee, said the proposal would remove the requirement that every scheduled meeting include a public comment period and replace it with language allowing ‘‘the chairperson or designee’’ to provide an opportunity for public comments at the chair’s discretion. She outlined a three‑pronged strategy to preserve public engagement: publishing requests for information in the Federal Register, holding town halls at disability conferences, and maintaining a continuous public comment webpage.
‘‘The change will not prohibit us from having public comments, but it will not require us to be [in every meeting],’’ Durocher said, framing the shift as a response to technical and cost challenges of managing live public comment on hybrid platforms.
Several council members objected to removing a required in‑meeting public comment period. Lisa Rivkin asked whether the bylaws change would undercut the council’s ‘‘direct connection to community’’ and urged the body to retain some guaranteed form of public comment. Other members noted the proposal was motivated by high costs and platform limitations when NCD travels, but insisted that flexibility not come at the expense of meaningful community access.
Chair Kenimer tabled the measure for further drafting and asked staff to confirm whether any statutory requirement mandates in‑meeting public comment and to circulate revised language before the next meeting. The chair said the council wants to preserve public comment in some form while improving accessibility and broadening opportunities for input.
Next steps: staff will research statutory obligations and return with suggested bylaw language that preserves robust public engagement, and the governance committee will circulate revisions for council review ahead of the next scheduled meeting.
