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Trussville council divided over allowing public comment at workshops; legal and scheduling alternatives floated
Summary
Councilor Miller proposed permitting public comment during workshops so residents can influence decisions before formal votes; other councilors and staff warned workshops are intended as preparatory working sessions and opening them risks violating open-meeting rules. Alternatives such as publishing packets earlier or holding workshop and council sessions the same day were raised.
Councilor Miller urged the council to allow members of the public to participate in workshop meetings, arguing the current structure limits residents’ ability to engage before formal votes. "I feel like once it gets to the council meeting, we pretty much made up our mind and it really doesn't give our citizens enough time to persuade us," Miller said.
Other councilors and staff cautioned that workshops are designed as working sessions for council and staff to prepare for formal action, and that inviting public comment could convert preparatory discussion into formal deliberation under open-meetings rules. An unnamed staff member noted the legal risk: "Workshops were created to be working sessions for council and staff to review issues and prepare for formal action...allowing open public comment at workshops, we risk converting the preparatory discussion into formal deliberation and that's creating a procedural and legal complication under open meetings rule." That view prompted the mayor and several councilors to propose alternatives, including ensuring packets are published earlier and exploring same-day workshop/council scheduling so the public can comment before a vote without exposing workshops to open-meetings risk.
Council discussion remained unresolved; the mayor said he would consider the alternatives and return with recommendations. The council did not vote to change workshop public-comment rules at the meeting.
