Title
Discussion and Possible Action to Clarify Opportunities and Methods for Public Comment and Engagement for Council meetings
Recommended Action
I move that Council requests the County Manager develop a mechanism to collect written public comment on agenda topics and have it associated with the item for Council and public review and further move, that the Rules Committee convene to make any changes needed to Procedural Rules based on the recommendations in this staff report and associated discussion of this item.
Body
This item expands some of the points considered in the draft County Communication Plan discussed at the March 8, 2022 Council Regular Session. As points of reference for public comment, specifically, the Open Meetings Act that provides that most meetings of public bodies are open to the public; the County Charter 202.2 that states that “The agenda for every Council meeting shall provide time for comments from the public.”; and the Council Procedural Rules indicate that “the Chair should invite public comments. If numerous members of the public indicate a desire to speak to the subject, the Chair may limit the time of each public speaker. At the conclusion of the public comments, the Chair should announce that the public input has concluded. For quasi-judicial proceedings, the Chair will be provided with detailed instructions designed solely for the conduct of that type of meeting.”
As a matter of practice, regular Council meetings have an item for public comment for items not on the agenda at the beginning of the meeting and another opportunity for public comment on any subject to the end of the meeting. There is public comment for items on the consent agenda and comments invited for every agenda item (whether a motion will be considered or not).
Chair Randall Ryti recommends that Council consider the following practices. First, invite comments on any subject at the beginning of the meeting. Comments are limited to 3 minutes unless announced for a shorter time by the Chair. Second, establish a method to collect written comments on agenda items. The Los Alamos Public School Board does this via email and other bodies collect comments via a web portal. Third, invite public comments on any business item. Meaning any item with possible action being considered. Fourth, invite public comments on any subject at the end of the meeting.
Chair Ryti also recommends that Council establish guidelines for town halls where the objective is to briefly introduce a topic area and engage the public for their ideas. Council might also want to have other types of meetings where the main objective is to convey complex or technical information to the public.
The Council should consider long term adoption of hybrid format meetings for Council, boards, and other public engagement.
Attachments
A - Council Procedural Rules