Members of the public may soon have to wait until near the end of Galesburg city meetings to address elected officials.
Three aldermen are seeking to change the order of business of City Council meetings. The proposed amendment to the ordinance would place public comment after miscellaneous business. Currently, the public comment section of regular City Council meetings is held after roll call and reading of the minutes.
City Council members Evan Miller (Ward 3), Bradley Hix (Ward 1) and Wayne Dennis (Ward 2) requested and recommend approval of the ordinance. The agenda item will be discussed on first reading at Tuesday’s City Council Meeting.
Council member: ‘We need to get city business done’
Miller tells WGIL, “I am the one who brought it up. In the past we have not been able to get city business done because of public comment. I think we need to get city business done, then deal with the other.”
The City Council just approved several changes to how city meetings are run at its June 5 meeting, including moving public comment to earlier in the meeting and limiting public comments to 3 minutes per speaker. Previously, public comment was conducted before miscellaneous business.
Galesburg Mayor Peter Schwartzman said moving public comment near the end of Council meetings “doesn’t make much sense to me. I would hope the Council would like to get public input into the agenda items before they make all their decisions (hence the reason why it was moved to the beginning of the meeting).
“I await a rationale from those that are advocating for this.”
Arrive later, speak sooner and shorter. Format changes to City Council meetings start tonight
The mayor could suggest specific comment comment periods before certain agenda items, but the Council could overrule the recommendation by majority vote.
“We tried holding public comments at the beginning of the meeting. Unfortunately, it did not prove to be effective because individuals would come to speak out on an issue, based on a rumor, and once the matter was addressed during the course of a meeting, it would be determined that the facts were altogether different.” — Heather Acerra, Ward 5 Council member
Fifth Ward Council member Heather Acerra said she believes it’s more effective to conduct public comment near the end of the meeting.
“We tried holding public comments at the beginning of the meeting,” Acerra said. “Unfortunately, it did not prove to be effective because individuals would come to speak out on an issue, based on a rumor, and once the matter was addressed during the course of a meeting, it would be determined that the facts were altogether different.
“If public comments are at the end of the meeting, we will also be able to determine more precisely at what point guests and consultants doing business with the city will be able to speak rather than have them wait lengthy and indeterminate times.”
‘Keep the public comment toward the front of the meeting’
At least two Council members are opposed to moving public comment to near the end of meetings.
“Allowing citizens to speak at the beginning of the meeting was a change we made to ensure that we got input ahead of issues that we were going to vote on,” said Seventh Ward Alderman Steve Cheesman.
“I also have consistently said that I want to listen to everyone. I do not favor a change because of that.”
‘More civil public input’ or ‘restricting freedom of speech’? Galesburg Council considers changes to public comment
Dwight White, Ward 4, also frowns on changing the order of business.
“I don’t agree with moving it to the end, because then all the action that people might want to talk about is over,” White said. “The public should have a chance to voice their opinion on which way the Council should vote.
“So keep the public comment toward the front of the meeting.”
“My biggest concern is making sure that we listen to the public rather than trying to shut down their voices.” — Sarah Davis, Sixth Ward Council member
Sixth Ward Council member Sarah Davis said she prefers item-specific public comments, but she would favor posing the question to the public.
“Do they feel like it’s important to be heard earlier in the meeting, prior to decisions being made about topics they may want to speak about?” she said. “As public servants, it is our job to listen and respond to our residents.
“Over the last two years, our mayor has done a good job of opening up item-specific public comments so that residents could speak before we voted on an issue. If we continue to give residents the opportunity for timely comment on significant agenda items, I see no issue with moving the general public comment time to a later point in the meeting.”
Davis added, “My biggest concern is making sure that we listen to the public rather than trying to shut down their voices.”