The rules and procedures for public comment at all open meetings of the City Council and all city committees/boards shall be as follows.
(A) A public comment period shall be held during every open meeting of the City Council and all city committees/boards. Except upon motion approved by a majority of the City Council or city committee/board, the public comment period shall not exceed: 30 minutes for open meetings of the City Council and Zoning Board; and 15 minutes for open meetings of all other city committees/boards. The right to public comment does not apply to closed meetings/executive sessions.
(B) On the agenda for every open meeting of the City Council and all city committees/boards, the public comment portion of the meeting shall be placed on the agenda at the beginning of the meeting right after “roll call”.
(C) Anyone desiring to address the City Council or a city committee/board must complete the public comment registration form available in the City Clerk’s office and return it to the City Clerk or his or her designee, at least five minutes prior to the start of the meeting at which the person desires to speak.
(D) On the public comment registration form, the person must include his or her name, the date of the meeting and the item on which the person wishes to speak. A person may only submit a public comment registration form on his or her own behalf, or for a group on whose behalf the person has been designated by a group to speak, in which case, the name of the group must be provided on the public comment registration form.
(E) Public comment shall be permitted by the presiding officer only during the designated public comment period specified on the agenda. The presiding officer shall recognize registered speakers in the order in which they submitted their completed public comment registration form to the City Clerk or his or her designee, except in situations where numerous persons wish to speak on a single agenda item. A person who has not timely submitted a completed public comment registration form to the City Clerk or his or her designee shall not be permitted to speak at the meeting, except upon motion approved by a majority of the City Council or city committee/board.
(F) Public comment is limited to a total of five minutes per registered speaker at any open meeting of the City Council and is limited to a total of three minutes per registered speaker at any open meeting of a city committee/board. A registered speaker cannot give his or her allotted minutes to another person.
(G) Once a registered speaker has been recognized by the presiding officer, the speaker shall only address the City Council or city committee/board from the location where he or she is seated/standing, and shall not approach members of the City Council or city committee/board. Registered speakers shall begin their public comments by first stating, for the record, their name, and if speaking as a representative of a group, the name of the group.
(H) Public comments must be directed by registered speakers to the City Council or city committee/board as a whole, and not to an individual member of the City Council or city committee/board, or to city staff. The public comment period is not intended to require members of the City Council or city committee/board, or city staff, to provide responses to registered speakers. Discussions between registered speakers and members of the audience shall not be permitted.
(I) After a registered speaker has made his or her public comments, or his or her allotted time for public comment has expired, he or she shall be seated with no further debate, dialogue or comment.
(J) All comments must be civil and respectful in nature. Any registered speaker who makes defamatory, obscene, discriminatory, threatening or abusive comments, or who engages in threatening, abusive or disorderly behavior when addressing the City Council or a city committee/board may be deemed out-of-order by the presiding officer, and the speaker’s opportunity for public comment at that meeting may be terminated.
(K) If numerous persons wish to speak on a single item, the presiding officer may recognize a specific number of registered speakers to make comments regarding the matter. Any registered person who is not able to address the City Council or city committee/board for this reason or due to the expiration of the time allotted for the public comment period, will be encouraged to attend a subsequent meeting to address the City Council or city committee/board, and/or to provide written comments.
(Prior Code, § 3-2-4) (Ord. 2014-8, passed 11-10-2014)