Commissioners to consider changes to public comment policy at board meetings

The Lorain County Board of Commissioners is proposing a new written policy for public comments at its future meetings, with two of its three Republican members on board and the third concerned that the policy stifles free speech. The change merited a brief announcement from Commissioner David Moore, the board's president, at Tuesday's meeting. A portion of a proposed resolution the commissioners will consider on Friday reads: "Whereas an atmosphere of incivility and disrespect at these meetings can stifle participation and debate, threaten the quality of decisions and undermine the local democratic process; and whereas adopting principles of civility and guidelines applicable to all public meetings and in all interactions in the workplace will help (ensure) that civic engagement and local democracy continue to flourish in Lorain County ... the board welcomes public comments and questions during the time set aside in the meeting for public comment …" Under proposed new rules, copies of which were available at Tuesday's board meeting, speakers must sign in up to five minutes prior to the scheduled meeting time. Speakers should use the provided podium if able, identify themselves by name and address, and identify the specific agenda items on which they wish to speak. "All public comments must be relevant, or 'germane,' to county business," according to the proposed rules. There will be time limits of two minutes for individual agenda items and general public comments which Moore, the current board president, will monitor. That's shorter than the three minutes speakers have been given all year and under prior boards of commissioners. The board president may extend that time "if deemed appropriate," according to the proposed rules. "Disruptive behavior, including but not limited to personal attacks on staff or members of the public, yelling from the seats, arguing whether a matter is germane to county business once the president of the board of commissioners has decided on such, or refusing to yield the floor once time has been elapsed and being requested to sit down, shall be grounds for removal from the meeting (or being muted if the speaker is virtual) without further admonishment or warning," according to the proposal. Public comments also may not violate the law regarding disturbing a public meeting or disorderly conduct, which are misdemeanor criminal charges, and the board president "reserves the right to end the total period for public comments at any time." Chief Assistant Lorain County Prosecutor Dan Petticord, the board's attorney, said a draft of the proposed rules and a board resolution were made up prior to Tuesday's meeting, but have not yet been voted on by the board. He said he was reviewing the draft proposal and would discuss it with the board on Friday. Moore and Commissioner Jeff Riddell said the board has been discussing the proposed changes for some time after consulting other counties' rules and getting legal advice. Moore said Wednesday that the board didn't have a public comment policy per se, but rather "guidelines." He said other counties pass resolutions on public comment policy at their annual organizational meetings. Both Riddell and Moore said the president of the board has the authority to control the meeting and implement rules. Moore said he got legal advice and the board drafted a resolution outlining a public comment policy that will be presented Friday. "It's just 'Here are some guidelines to maintain some civility,'" he said. "Bottom line, we can take abuse, we've seen that already, but I'm concerned people may use this for other agenda items not dealing with county business" or politics. Riddell said there have been recent problems "with people getting up and making disparaging personal attacks on other people that didn't have anything to do with county business." Some of those included verbal attacks on the commissioners by private citizens making unsubstantiated criminal allegations, most specifically against Moore and Riddell. There has also been some heated discussion this year over the ongoing county emergency radio contract controversy and resulting legal battles in court. Riddell said the board is not trying to restrict free speech. "Transparency is great, but it's not a free-for-all," he said. "We need to have respectful conversation." "We're trying to keep it germane to the county business. People have free speech: Send me an email. Call me on the phone. In the meeting, some people take license because we're on TV and they think this is their 30 seconds of fame. All we're trying to do is say that the county needs to be on county business," Riddell said. He said having a policy is the right of the board, but he also welcomes input from the public on the proposed rules, which can be amended. "If people have comments about some of the wording, we're open to suggestions. We took three policies and blended them into one policy that we think shows respect for everybody," Riddell said. "If we need to go back and reevaluate that, we'll do it." Commissioner Michelle Hung was not enthusiastic about the proposed rule changes. She said she supports freedom of speech for county residents.Moore "chose not to request my input prior to releasing his new public lobby session rules at Tuesday evening's meeting. In the past, the public lobby session was reserved for residents to speak on the topic of their choice. This policy by Moore seeks to limit the 'items or issues' the residents may choose to discuss," Hung wrote in a statement to The Chronicle-Telegram on Wednesday. "I was duly elected to represent all Lorain County residents, and I emphatically support their right to free speech. The First Amendment gives people the power to call out government corruption and abuse. Most importantly, it empowers people to give unpopular opinions," she wrote. Commissioners changed the rules to allow for two public comment periods earlier this year. The first at the start of each meeting, at three minutes per person, is for discussing items on the board's agenda. The second three minutes per person, at the end of each meeting, was set aside to allow the public to speak on matters already discussed during the meeting. The board also changed its meeting schedule in February. Now instead of meeting once per week, every week, on Wednesday mornings, it meets twice per week every other week on Tuesday afternoons and Friday mornings. Contact Dave O'Brien at (440) 329-7129 or dobrien@chroniclet.com. Follow him on Twitter @DaveOBrienCT.