(A) The Council of the city hereby adopts the following rules which shall applyto all individuals attending public meetings of the Council.
(1) Members of the general public in attendance at a public meeting of the Council have no rights with reference to the meeting, except as otherwise provided by law.
(2) Although members of the general public have no right to speak during a public meeting, the Council, at its sole discretion, may provide for a public comment period, during which time individuals may be given an opportunity to address the Council.
(3) Members of the public may speak during a public hearing as required by the statutes, but their comments shall be governed by these rules.
(4) During any public comment period, individuals wishing to speak will be required to sign a speaker registration sheet and provide the speaker's name, address, and issue or topic they wish to address. Individuals will be called to speak in the order of which they have signed the speaker registration sheet.
(5) Individuals who wish to speak and have signed the speaker registration sheet may waive their opportunity to speak once called upon; however, an individual who waives his, her or their opportunity to speak will not be permitted to speak at a later time.
(6) Once called upon, all speakers shall first state their names, their county of residence, and the issue upon which they wish to speak. Speakers may only speak from a podium and must speak loudly and clearly into the microphone provided.
(7) (a) Any speaker that wishes to address the Council during a public hearing shall provide information that is germane and relevant to the purpose of the public hearing only.
(b) Any comments that are derogatory, inflammatory, hateful or non-germane as determined by the presiding officer of the public hearing shall be considered out of order and the speaker will forfeit their remaining time, if any.
(8) Any speaker wishing to provide documents to the Council at the meeting shall provide one copy for each of the Council members; however, speakers are encouraged to bring additional copies of any documents they intend to distribute during the meeting.
(9) (a) Each speaker may only speak once and will be given a maximum of three minutes to speak unless a shorter period of time is set forth by the Council at the start of the public comment period.
(b) Time may not be reserved or yielded to other speakers and once an individual is finished speaking, that individual’s remaining time, if any, is waived.
(10) Each speaker will be notified when his, her or their allotted time to speak is exhausted and any speaker that does not immediately conclude his, her or their remarks at the expiration of his, her or their allotted time will be deemed out of order and the speaker will be asked to stop.
(11) Comments which are duplicative or repetitive will be deemed out of order and the speaker will be asked to stop.
(12) Any speaker who is discourteous, argumentative, accusatory, or insulting will be deemed out of order and asked to stop.
(13) Once a speaker is deemed out of order for any reason, that speaker’s remaining time, if any, will be forfeited and the speaker will not be granted an opportunity to make any further comment or presentation.
(14) All members of the general public attending a public meeting will be expected to adhere to these rules and, any person failing to do so will be deemed out of order.
(15) The Council is authorized, and have sole discretion, to request any person deemed out of order leave the meeting and, once requested to leave, a person must immediately leave the meeting room.
(16) In extreme cases, if a person refuses to leave the meeting after being asked to do so and that person continues to disrupt the proceedings in a way that is obviously hostile to the purpose of the meeting, the Council may order that the person be removed by members of the County Sheriff’s Department.
(17) (1) During its public meetings, the Council will take all measures necessary under the circumstances to maintain order.
(b) In exercising this discretion, the Council will be guided by a judicious appraisal of the circumstances, including the conduct and decorum of members of the general public in attendance.
(B) Upon the adoption of this section, a copy of the rules stated herein shall be posted outside the Council Court Room and made available to the general public through the internet website for the city (www.hartfordcity.net).
(Res. 2021-40, passed 9-6-2021)