Jefferson County Council Regulates Public Comments

Sixteen people spent an hour and nine minutes addressing the Jefferson County Council Monday night on a myriad of subjects, including a resolution the council would consider that regulates the amount of time speakers would have to address the council during the public comment portion of the meetings.

Under a terms of the resolution, speakers would be limited to five minutes in their remarks, or three minutes if there were too many speakers signed up to speak. On Monday, all but one speaker kept their comments under five minutes. The lone exception was a woman who talked for 11 minutes on a wastewater treatment study that would be addressed by the council later in the evening.

Monday's council meeting lasted for two hours and 45 minutes.

Ultimately, after much debate, the council approved the new public comment regulations on a 4-3 vote, with resolution sponsors Council members Cliff Lane and Kelly Waymon joining resolution sponsors Bob Boyer and Terri Kreitler in voting for in favor of the new public comment rules.

Council members Don Bickowski, Renee Reuter and Charles Groeteke voted against the resolution.

Those who wish to address the council during its regular sessions now will be required to submit  speaker's request card a will be given five minutes to speak. If there are a large number of people signed up, the time may be reduced to three minutes at the discretion of County Executive Ken Waller.

Several people who commented Monday on the proposal said the restrictions were an abridgement of  freedom of speech.

Bickowski was critical of the council's passage of the resolution, which he called "a disservice to the citizens of Jefferson County"

The call for public comment restrictions stemmed from a recent incident where a woman spoke for 73 minutes, receiving a unanimous vote from the council allowing her to continue her remarks.

Bickowski says the council should not have changed the public comment rules based on a single incident, especially one where the council voted to allow it.

" I can appreciate the council member's position on effective use of time but to curtail public comment based on a single incident where the council unanimously allowed a speaker to continue is beyond me," Bickowski said. "I was proud to be a part of a council that night when we allowed one of our citizens to have the time they needed in front of the council.  I am equally disappointed that members of this council would react so swiftly to a single incident which they endorsed."

Boyer said the issue is all about having "an orderly meeting and giving everybody a chance to speak."

Rather than abridgement of free speech, Boyer said the new rules actually expands free speech by giving more people a chance to express their view now that one or more people are prevented from monopolizing the debate.

Groeteke also was critical of the resolution's passage.

"For the county council to limit the speech of its citizens is clearly another nail in the coffin of freedom," he said.

Bickowski said there was plenty of control over speaker comments previously since the council could manage the public comment period better. He said the issue is listening to the people of the county and not maiking it harder for them to get across their views.

"Why would a servant of the people not want to take whatever time was required to hear from citizens? he said.