HUNTINGTON BEACH : Plan to Delay Public Comments Assailed

Accusing Mayor Thomas F. Mays of trying to “shut out the people,” the leader of a citizens’ group on Monday blasted a plan to delay the public comment portion of City Council meetings in an effort to streamline the sessions.

Currently, members of the public can address the council on any topic for up to three minutes at the beginning of each meeting. But under Mays’ proposal, comments from the public would be delayed until after all public hearings are concluded, a procedural change that critics warn could force residents to wait unnecessarily to address city officials.

Mays said Monday that the change in procedure is necessary because council meetings are becoming too long. He said 21 speakers spoke at the Jan. 8 meeting before the council could move ahead with its public hearings.

“The council didn’t get finished with our meeting that night until 1:30 in the morning, and we still didn’t get to the regular agenda,” Mays said.

But Debbie Cook, chairwoman of Save Our Parks, criticized the change as an attempt to “shut out the people.” She said it was “incredible” that Mays proposed delaying the public comments portion of the agenda. About 75% of the cities in Orange County set aside time near the start of each council meeting for public comments, she said.

Mays defended his proposal, saying the public is not being denied access to the council.

“We’ll still allow everyone to speak, only public comments will come immediately after public hearings,” he said.

Mays noted that the current arrangement often delays public hearings by several hours, and he said this causes needless expense to lawyers, consultants and others who are being paid to give expert testimony at the hearings.

Said Cook: “The citizen’s time is valuable, too.”