Select Board delays final vote on public comment policy to July 26
/By Carol Britton Meyer
The select board continues to refine a temporary public comment policy that would allow individuals to speak on virtually all agenda items during board meetings unless the board articulates a specific reason not to allow it.
“This is a work in progress,” Town Counsel James Lampke said this week, noting that the board “recognizes that public comments are important.”
The board voted affirmatively on an updated version that Lampke will review and revise and then present a clean copy at the July 26 meeting, at which time the board will take another vote. The temporary policy would take effect immediately once it gains final board approval.
In essence, the board will accept public comments on individual agenda items, except on the rare occasion when, for a specific reason, it decides not to due to time constraints, a full agenda, or to allow time to address other matters. But this decision cannot be made randomly. The board may also defer comments until an upcoming meeting.
The intent is for the chair, Greg Grey, to conduct all meetings in “an orderly and peaceful manner while recognizing the public’s rights of free speech,” Lampke said.
Each speaker, other than applicants making a presentation, the select board, town counsel, the town manager, and other staff, will have two minutes to present comments after being recognized by the chair. The chair could then decide to allow someone to speak a second time on the same agenda item after all those interested in speaking on that topic have had an opportunity to make their comments.
Speakers are required to identify themselves by name and address for the record, and are encouraged to confine their comments to matters related to agenda items.
“The select board is not obligated to respond, but may do so if [its members] wish,” Lampke said.
All individuals wanting to speak are encouraged to maintain “order and civility” and to present their remarks in a respectful manner, “treating others as you would wish to be treated,” Lampke explained. The policy is being drafted in response to a Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court case that determined that municipalities could not prohibit “rude” public commentary at meetings, but could put limits on how the public-comment period is managed.
“Let’s play it by ear and see how it goes, and the other four board members will act as watchdogs,” board member Jerry Taverna said.
In accordance with state law, “no person shall disrupt the proceedings of a meeting,” Lampke said. “If after a clear warning from the chair [this behavior] continues, the chair may order that person to withdraw from the meeting and could authorize a constable or other officer to remove [him or her] from the meeting. Hopefully, we will never get to that point.”
Lampke added that he has always recommended that when a discussion gets heated, that the chair call for a five-minute recess.
“Most of the time when the meeting resumes, everyone has calmed down, and the meeting can proceed in an orderly fashion,” he said.
The temporary policy also states that comments made by the public during public meetings “do not reflect the views or positions of the select board or the town.”
The same rules apply to both in-person and remote meetings.
Lampke called the temporary policy that was reviewed this week “a working document,” based on recent court decisions, other communities’ policies, and other sources.
