Dover City Council adopts rule edits, keeps five-minute public comment after residents object

The Dover City Council on Jan. 14 approved a package of editorial and procedural changes to its council rules, keeping the public forum speaking limit at five minutes after several residents and councilors urged that reducing the time would curb public participation.

Alan Kranz, a Dover resident, used his public comment to press for clearer voting and recusal language in the rules, recommending the removal of existing abstention language and replacement with three short sentences: that councilors are expected to vote on all matters, that councilors should recuse themselves rather than abstain when a conflict exists under the charter and Chapter 21 of the ordinances, and that individual councilors decide whether they have a conflict. Kranz also noted a typographical reference to “Chapter 22” in the packet that he said should read Chapter 21 and cited…