Town Council nixes request for extended comment time

By Justin Burnett
for The Whidbey Examiner

The Whidbey Examiner/STPNS

May 03, 2008

COUPEVILLE, Washington (STPNS) -- The Coupeville Town Council has said no to a proposal that would have expanded the amount of time set aside for unscheduled public comment during council meetings.

During the April 22 meeting, Council member Ann Dannhauer made a motion to increase the two currently allowed five-minute public comment periods to 10 minutes each. Dannhauer's motion also would have allowed the public to use overhead projectors for presentations.

The motion was defeated, with all but Dannhauer voting against the proposal. Council member Bob Clay was absent from the meeting and therefore did not vote.

Dannhauer said she made the motion because people too often ran out of time during public comment, which led her to believe that allowing more time would be a good idea.

As for the overhead projector use, she said she didn't understand why the public was not allowed to use them when they would improve the council's ability to understand complex information being presented.

Addressing the time limit, Council member Dianne Binder asked if Dannhauer would be willing to accept any amendments. She suggested removing one comment period and instead allowing one comment period that would be twice as long, or having just one five-minute period and increasing the second comment period to 10 minutes.

Dannhauer declined to accept both suggestions, maintaining that both comment periods should be 10 minutes long. The rest of the council disagreed.

"No other meetings that I go to in town, and I go to a lot of them, every single one of them allow two to three minutes for speakers to speak," Council member Molly Hughes said.

Besides, anyone who needed more than two five-minute periods should submit their comments in writing, Hughes said. Written comments "get better consideration, and your opinion would get more attention," she said.

Town Council member Jim Phay said he's been "quite comfortable with two five-minute periods." He that although there have been people in the past that have used both five-minute periods, most don't.

Phay suggested people who need longer than the designated times should request in advance to be included on the agenda. But Coupeville Mayor Nancy Conard pointed out that there are no clear guidelines on how agenda requests are made and approved.

Hughes and Binder are currently working on developing clear procedures for council meetings, and said they plan to address the issue. Hughes said they also would be working on procedures to handle situations when people break protocol and interrupt meetings with comments or questions outside comment periods.

Such behavior is often tolerated. For example, moments after Phay said people who will speak a long time should request to be on the agenda, Coupeville resident Gordon Burton interrupted the discussion to say he thought it was a good idea. Rather than asking him not to speak during the meeting, Conard asked him to rise and speak into the microphone at the podium.

Dannhauer's request to allow the use of overhead projectors also was soundly rejected. Both Hughes and Phay complained that when they've been used in the past, they couldn't see the information.

For some residents at the meeting, the council's rejection of the motion came as no surprise.

"I thought it was very predictable," Coupeville resident Peggy Burton said.

Burton attends council meetings on a regular basis and supported Dannhauer's motion. She claims the decision is evidence that the council isn't really interested in receiving input, and that they have forgotten that they are servants of the public. Hearing from constituents should be one of their highest priorities, she said.

Burton said another example were the barriers that, for a short time, were set up in council meetings. Made of folding tables, the barriers separated the public and the council by about 15 feet. The practice was discontinued however, after just a few meetings.

According to Conard, the barriers were initially set up in response to an Association of Washington Cities recommendation made after a shooting incident at a local government meeting in Missouri in February left a six people dead.

Another purpose of the barriers, said Conard, was to make it impossible for meeting attendees to pass printed material directly to the council. Instead, the information would have to be relayed by the marshal.

Burton said the policy is not only silly and offensive, but also an example of the council's disdain for public involvement.

"It showed they don't want input from the citizens at large," she said. "They want to be in control."

Hughes said Burton's comment was "ridiculous." The barriers were put up based on a recommendation. and when Burton complained, they were removed. Hughes said she didn't think the barriers or the council's rejection of Dannhauer's motion is a big deal.

"I just don't see