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Committee proposes fixed two-minute extensions for public comment, bans transferring extra time
Summary
The legal and legislative committee recommended keeping the five-minute initial public-comment period but defining additional time as two-minute increments granted by majority vote and prohibiting transfer or combination of additional time; commissioners debated logistics and potential disruption.
The committee recommended clarifying public-comment procedures without changing the initial five-minute allotment: if a speaker requests additional time, the committee recommended that "more time means 2 minutes granted upon a majority vote," and that any additional two-minute allotments may be repeated but cannot be transferred or combined to another speaker. "So we have 5 minutes, and then if there's a request for more time, it automatically goes to 2 minutes," Commissioner Collins said.
Several commissioners raised practical concerns in discussion, arguing voters would have to vote every two minutes to extend a passionate speaker's time and that frequent voting could interrupt a speaker's train of thought. Commissioner Slater warned that breaking a speech into repeated two-minute votes could be disruptive; others noted the intent was to ensure equity so no speaker receives preferential extra time. The committee placed the recommendations on the Aug. 17 agenda for formal consideration.
