The Texas legislature recently passed a law requiring that citizens of the state have an opportunity to address the mayor and council at work sessions as they do at regular meetings. The law offers councils latitude to set some guidelines, including time limits.
The primary concern of City Attorney Brad Neighbor was to ensure that the City Council members and Mayor Scott LeMay have sufficient time to complete their work, which requires time to talk about all agenda items.
There was discussion about several potential regulations.
- Whether citizens should speak when their item of interest comes up on the agenda or whether all speakers should be heard at the beginning of the meeting
- Whether there should be a time limit for each speaker
- Whether a time limit for the entire speaker session should be set
- Whether a limit on the number of speakers should be set
- If citizens should register in advance to speak at the meeting, and if so, the deadline for registration
- If citizens could speak only on items that were on the work session agenda
- Whether they could speak about multiple agenda items
- If Garland citizens would be heard first
Several council members expressed concern and made suggestions on various points and after discussion, the following points were agreed upon:
- Citizens may only speak on posted work session agenda items
- Speakers limited to three minutes each
- No time limit on entire speaker session
- Citizens may speak on multiple agenda items
- Anyone wishing to speak must arrive and complete speaker card before the work session begins
- The speaker time will serve as a time for citizens to make a statement or public comment, not to converse with council members
Council also talked about the possibility and practicality of moving the first part of the work session into the council chambers if a large number of citizens are there to speak.
“We are sitting here contemplating the worst-case scenario,” LeMay said. “Most nights we sit here and talk to empty chairs…I think we are projecting our worst fears of these long drawn out meetings and discussions…This agenda item is a good example that we tend to make things longer than the public does.”