City council votes to keep public comment period
A proposed change to the council’s rules of procedure would have done away with a public comment period at the start of regular meetings. But the council instead increased opportunities for comment.
The Laramie City Council voted to maintain its current opportunities for public comment during regular meetings — while adding a new public comment period to its work sessions, and new public comments periods to each individual item discussed during its work sessions.
As the council considered a few changes to its rules of procedure Tuesday, an amendment from Councilors Bryan Shuster and Pat Gabriel saved the public comment period from being axed.
Council meetings typically have two opportunities for residents to speak on issues that don’t appear on the council’s agenda — one at the outset and one at the close of each meeting.
The original rule-changing resolution would have eliminated the public comment period at the outset of the meeting. But Councilor Pat Gabriel forcefully denounced the idea.
“I don’t think we need to have the public wait until the end of the meeting to comment on non-agenda items,” he said. “I don’t know what we’re trying to fix. I think 30 minutes before the meeting is something we’ve established. We had a lot of comment last summer. So be it. We’re here to hear from the public.”
Gabriel’s suggestion inspired Shuster to make an amendment reversing the change and keeping the public comment period.
That amendment kicked off a debate among councilors.
Vice Mayor Jayne Pearce expressed concern about having sufficient time during regular meetings to deal with the business of the council. Councilor Andi Summerville agreed.
“I struggle to support the amendment, not because I want to cut off public comment on consent items, but I do share some of the concerns about getting the business of the council done in a timely fashion,” Summerville said.
Though he ultimately supported the amendment, Mayor Paul Weaver voiced concern about public comment coming before the meeting.
“Those meetings, in which public comment is taken at the beginning of the meeting, can set the tone of the meeting,” he said. “I’ve been at meetings in the last few years with some of you where that’s definitely been the case. I don’t think it’s been particularly helpful.”
Weaver did not name the meetings or discussions during which the tone was set by early public commenters, but the council has certainly seen a great amount of public participation at meetings.
This has especially been the case as it has discussed police accountability and oversight. That issue sometimes necessitated scheduling a special meeting, reflecting councilors’ recognition that public comment about all things law enforcement would push out any other planned items of discussion.
The amendment to keep the public comment period passed on a 6-3 vote, with Pearce, Summerville and Councilor Sharon Cumbie voting against.
The main motion included a number of other changes to the rules of procedure. One of these changes added an additional public comment period to the end of work sessions, as well as public comment periods for each individual item discussed during a work session — meaning overall, the council increased opportunities for public comment.
The council uses work sessions — as opposed to regular meetings — to dig into an issue or hear presentations. The council does not vote on resolutions during these work sessions.
Another change codified the provision of web conferencing — ensuring that the council will continue to do as it has done throughout the pandemic, offering residents a way to view and participate in council meetings via Youtube or Zoom.
Most of the other changes bring the council’s rules of procedure up-to-date with the most recent edition of Robert’s Rules of Order, the guiding document for how city council meetings are conducted.
The entire resolution was passed near-unanimously, winning all votes but Mayor Weaver’s. The mayor was marked as absent because of a technical issue.
-
Clarification: An earlier version of this story failed to highlight that the city council added a public comment period to each item discussed during its work sessions. The earlier version only highlighted the public comment period added to the end of work sessions.
-