Public Comment at Council: Just the Facts

    The headline of an article in last week's Central City News read "Mayor's Plan Would Inhibit Public Comment at Council."  This is simply untrue, because this is not the "Mayor's Plan".  It is instead an Ordinance that the Mayor is required to enforce. The ordinance was enacted by the City Council in 2005 and enforcement of the ordinance was rightfully requested by current Councilman Wayne Messina.  This Ordinance will remain in force unless the majority of the City Council votes to change it.  The Mayor has no authority to change the Ordinance.  The following communication was issued from the office of the Mayor of the City of Central, and clearly spells out the facts regarding the current Ordinance for Public Comment at City Council meetings:

To: Citizens of Central and Members of the Public

From: David Barrow, Executive Assistant

Date: December 20, 2010

Re: Editorial in Central City News – December 16, 2010

An editorial by Woody Jenkins on page 2 in the Central City News, December 16, 2010 edition

titled, “Mayor’s Plan Would Inhibit Public Comment at Council” contained some very misleading and incorrect information regarding public comment at council meetings. This plan is not “the mayor’s plan”, but instead is a plan adopted by a previous city council and included in the city’s code of ordinances. I would like to clarify this matter and give background information as to how this procedure was enacted.  Prior to writing this press release, both Mayor Watts and council member Wayne Messina were consulted to verify information.

    At the October 12, 2010 council meeting, council member Wayne Messina introduced an ordinance titled, “An ordinance to limit the time for comments by council members during a council meeting.” A copy of that ordinance is attached to this memo. This ordinance was proposed by council member Messina due to a nearly 4-hour council meeting that occurred previously in which citizens expressed frustration afterwards about the amount of time that it took to discuss an item by each council member. Council member Messina’s ordinance would limit the amount of time that council members could speak uninterrupted to five minutes with an additional five minutes for rebuttal on any given item in order to move the council meetings along in a timely manner. Additionally, no council member would speak unless recognized by the presiding official, which would be the mayor or, in his absence, the mayor pro-tem.   

    At the October 26, 2010 council meeting, a public hearing was to be heard on this ordinance.  However, prior to discussion, Council member Messina asked that discussion of this item be withdrawn due to the fact that he discovered there was already a city ordinance outlining these same procedures for comments. City attorney Sheri Morris concurred with council member Messina that there were already procedures in place under Title 1, Chapter 1, Part 1 (Rules of Procedure) of the city’s code of ordinances.

    This section, established by a previous city council, states the following:

Sec. 1:7. Conducting of meetings; public hearings.  (a) In view of the many items appearing on the agenda, each councilman will be allowed a maximum of five (5) minutes to express his views on any one subject without interruption from the other members upon initial consideration and five (5) minutes for rebuttal. No member will speak until recognized by the chair. In compliance with R.S. 42:5(d), members of the public will be allowed to speak on any item included on the agenda. Members of the

public who wish to speak, must request permission in writing to do so prior to discussion of the matter on which they wish to speak. The chairman will allocate time to all members of the public who wish to comment.

(b) Any question to be directed from a member of the council to any other person present must be directed through the chair.

(c) The city clerk is to be sergeant-at-arms and shall keep time and advise the chairman as to the time on all speakers. In order to continue beyond the allowed maximum, persons speaking must secure unanimous consent of the council.

(d) A ruling of the chairman ‘that an item on the agenda was not properly placed on the agenda shall be sustained unless overruled by the vote of two-thirds of the members then present. All other rulings of the chairman from which appeals are taken shall be sustained unless overturned by a majority of those members present.

    After this section was discussed, council member Messina stated that there was no need for his proposed ordinance since Title 1, Chapter 1, Part 1, Section 1:7 addressed his concerns and established procedures for public comment for both council members and the general public. The ordinance was then withdrawn, and it was requested by members of the council that the procedures of this section be followed for future council meetings. On Tuesday, December 16, 2010, Mayor Watts announced that these

procedures will be followed for future council meetings. So, therefore, it is not “the mayor’s plan”. It is set of procedures that were previously adopted by council action in the city’s ordinances on November 22, 2005.   

    In a telephone conference last Thursday, council member Messina pointed out that the State Legislature uses a similar procedure at its committee hearings, and this procedure seems to work well.  Citizens wishing to speak on an item must fill out a card prior to the meeting requesting to speak on a particular item. Only those who filled out cards requesting to speak are allowed to speak on an item at the committee hearings of the legislature. The Central Community School System is considering a similar procedure for its meetings as well. The city’s ordinance is generally consistent with the state legislature’s procedures and the proposed procedures of the Central Community School System.

    The statement in the Central City News article which reads, “The Mayor should reconsider his statement, and the council should make sure this idea doesn’t take hold” is misleading. A previous council established these rules by ordinance on November 22, 2005, and members of the current council requested that this law be enforced (and take hold) in order to provide for timely council meetings while still allowing the public the right to be heard.

    By copy of this letter, a request is hereby made for the Central City News to issue a clarification and apology to Mayor Watts for running an editorial with a misleading headline and not presenting all the facts that were discussed openly during a public council meeting on October 26, 2010. A recorded audio copy of this meeting is available to the public.