(A) Public Participation. Public Participation shall be permitted during the following portions of an open meeting of the City Council:
(1) Public Forum.
(2) Public Hearing.
(3) Invited Speakers.
(B) Public Forum. Any person who seeks to address the members of the City Council at any Regular Monthly Meeting of the City Council will be permitted to speak on any matter listed on the Agenda or on any other matter directly relevant to the business of the City of Mt. Vernon. Comment, promotion, or advocacy regarding any matter not subject to a decision within the authority of the City Council is not a matter relevant to the business of the City. Any person who seeks to address the members of the City Council at any Special Meeting or Workshop Meeting of the City Council will be permitted to speak only on the specific matter listed on the Agenda for the meeting.
(C) Public Forum Rules for Public Participation. Persons desiring to address the City Council during a Public Forum shall do so in compliance with the following requirements:
(1) Persons desiring to speak during a Public Forum of a Regular Council Meeting, Special Meeting, or Workshop shall be permitted to speak during the Public Participation portions of the meeting appearing upon the Agenda for the meeting. Public Participation shall appear upon the Agenda for each meeting and shall be conducted immediately after “Approval of the Journal for the Preceding Meeting” and also immediately prior to the “Mayor”, unless the City Council, by majority vote of the members in attendance, direct that Public Participation shall be conducted at another time during the same meeting. The Public Participation portions of a meeting shall appear upon a meeting’s Agenda as “Visitors/Citizens Requests/Addresses from the Audience.” Persons who do not address the Council during the Public Participation Items upon the Agenda shall address the Council only as an Invited Speaker.
(2) Each person wishing to speak during the Public Participation portion of a meeting immediately after the “Approval of the Journal for the Preceding Meeting” shall sign a Speaker’s List at the meeting prior the start of the meeting and shall provide his or her name and the topic(s) to be discussed. No sign-in on a Speaker’s List shall be required for persons wishing to speak during the second Public Participation portion of a meeting. No person appearing before the Council as the Petitioner or Requesting Party for an Item upon the Agenda for the meeting shall be required to sign the Speaker’s List, unless said person also desires to speak during the Public Participation portion of the meeting, as said person shall be considered an “Invited Speaker”.
(3) Prior to speaking, each person must be recognized by the Mayor or by the designee of the Mayor. Speakers desiring to speak on permitted topics will be called to speak in the order that the speaker’s name appears upon the Speaker’s List, if applicable.
(4) Prior to speaking, each speaker, if physically able, shall stand at the designated podium and shall state his or her name for the record. The speaker shall not be required to state an address. Reasonable accommodations shall be made for any speaker who is physically unable to appear at the podium.
(5) Public comments during the Public Participation portion of a meeting shall be limited to five (5) minutes per person, unless extended by consent of a majority of the City Council members present at the meeting. The City Clerk, or such other person as may be designated by the Mayor, shall monitor each speaker’s use of time and shall notify the speaker when the time allotted has expired. A speaker cannot give his or her allotted minutes to another speaker to increase that person’s allotted time. No speaker shall be entitled to speak but one time on the same topic during any meeting, although a majority of the City Council members may permit a speaker to speak more than once if deemed necessary to permit a reasonable full and fair opportunity for public participation
(6) In order to expedite Council business and to avoid repetitious presentations, whenever any group of persons wishes to address the Council on the same subject matter, it shall be in order for the Mayor to encourage that a spokesperson be chosen from the group to address the Council. If additional matters are to be presented by any other members of the group, the Mayor may limit the number of such persons and limit the presentation to information not already presented by the group spokesperson.
(7) Speakers shall address their comments only to the entire City Council and not to an individual Council Member or the Mayor, nor to the City Manager or a staff member, nor to the audience. Speakers are requested to be well-mannered in their language and presentation. No speaker shall use obscene language, fighting words, or defamatory statements. Any person who engages in threatening, disruptive, or disorderly conduct when addressing the City Council or who otherwise fails to comply with the provisions of the Ordinance shall be deemed out-of-order by the Mayor and their time to address the City Council at said meeting shall be terminated.
(8) The Mayor, a Council Member, City Manager, or other City Official shall respond as each deems appropriate to any comment or question of any speaker. The Mayor, Council Member, City Manager, or other City Official may interrupt a speaker and ask questions or make statements during any comment made by a speaker; in the event of such questions or statements, the Mayor may extend a speaker’s allotted time to compensate for the time which elapsed during statements or questions by City Officials.
(9) After a verbal warning, a person who refuses to comply with the provisions of this Ordinance regarding public participation may be directed to cease speaking and to leave the podium, and may also be asked to leave the meeting room; a person may be physically removed if the person fails to comply with a request if such failure interrupts, disturbs, or disrupts the orderly conduct of business during the meeting. In addition, any person who fails to comply with the provisions of this Ordinance shall be subject to issuance of a citation and fine for violation of this Ordinance.
(D) Closed Sessions. Public participation shall not be permitted during any meeting or portions of a meeting which is deemed to be a closed session under the Illinois Open Meetings Act, being 5 ILCS 120.
(E) Audience. Members of the audience shall refrain from applauding, cheering, or booing during or at the conclusion of remarks made by any speaker, staff member, presiding officer, or Council Member.
(F) Public Hearing. The rules applicable to the Public Forum shall generally apply to public hearings, except that public comments shall be limited to the matter subject of the Agenda for the public hearing and public participation shall be for such periods of time as determined necessary by the City Council to permit a reasonable full and fair opportunity for public participation; during the public hearing, the time limitation of each individual speaker shall be as provided within this Ordinance or shall be as announced at the public hearing, but in no event shall the limitation be less than five (5) minutes per speaker. Invited Speakers may also speak at a public hearing.
(G) Subordinate Public Bodies. The rules applicable to a Public Forum and to Invited Speakers shall generally apply to public meetings and hearings of City Commissions, Boards, Committees, and similar subordinate bodies created by the City Council, except that public comments shall be limited to the specific matters subject of items appearing upon the Agenda for the meeting or hearing.
(H) Invited Speakers. Any citizen may address the City Council by invitation of the Mayor or a Council Member, unless a majority of the City Council present at the meeting denies the invitation; provided however that the Petitioner or Requesting Party for an item upon the Agenda shall be entitled to speak as an Invited Speaker. Participation as an Invited Speaker by non-Petitioners or non-Requesting Parties shall be within the sole discretion of the City Council. Persons speaking as Invited Speakers shall be subject to such limitations as the Mayor or a majority of the City Council shall prescribe during the meeting. In the absence of other restrictions, speakers shall be governed by the same rules which govern speaking during a Public Forum. Nothing herein shall prohibit someone who participated during the Public Participation Item on the Agenda from being an Invited Speaker at the same meeting.
(I) Alternative Channels of Communication. In addition to speaking at City Council meetings and other meetings subject of this Ordinance, members of the public may communicate any concern or make comment regarding the City of Mt. Vernon to the Mayor and/or to individual Council Members or to the City Council as a group in writing by mail addressed to the Mayor or Council Member at City Hall, 1100 Main, Mt. Vernon, Illinois 62864, or by email to the published email addresses on the City of Mt. Vernon’s website. Also, written comments may be provided to the Mayor or Council Members by delivery of written comments to the office of the City Clerk.
(Prior Code, Art. 1, § 1.3(l))