Bring Back the public forum To every Meeting

By kathy bence

The city recently removed the public forum from every other City Council meeting. The public forum gives residents three minutes per person to comment on non-agenda items.

I’ve wanted to comment on how our opportunities to comment have been limited, but I have been so limited in my opportunities to comment that I haven’t been able to comment. This may seem like a tongue-twister, but it’s my experience. After two months of attending several city council meetings, I haven’t timed it right. I seem to find myself in only the non-pubic-forum meetings.

One of the meetings I couldn’t attend was October 4. I emailed a comment and asked that it be read during the public forum, but it wasn’t. Here’s my comment:

In his October 23 Toquerville Sentinel report, Brian McNary wrote:

"As I perused the agenda, I noticed the time slot for public concerns had gone missing. After the meeting I was told that the City was only going to offer open time every other meeting. If true, this would mean a citizen might have to wait nearly a month to speak about something. Though it can be time consuming, public access is more important than saving a few minutes."

I would ask that the City Council reinstate the public forum for each meeting.  An email or private conversation with city leaders does not allow other residents to know what is going on.

Please don't limit one of our few opportunities for input and involvement.