West Covina Gets Earful at Marathon Hearing : Public speaking: West Covina is one of eight cities in the valley that don’t require brevity at hearings.

How much freedom of speech is enough? Two minutes? Thirteen hours?

The construction of a drive-through McDonald’s restaurant at 3030 E. Garvey Ave. was finally approved in West Covina last week. A marathon debate delayed its approval until 4 a.m. on the third calendar day of the hearing.

The 13-hour hearing set a record for West Covina (previous holder: a 1989 discussion about a Plaza mall expansion that lasted till 2 a.m.). Most council meetings usually last three to four hours. This hearing took so long because 61 people, most of whom didn’t want a fast-food restaurant in their neighborhood, spoke.

West Covina is one of eight San Gabriel Valley cities that set no limit on how long a person can speak at a council meeting. Most other cities set limits ranging from two to five minutes; San Gabriel’s is 10 minutes. Time limits generally are set by the governing body and enforced by the mayor.

Before this year, West Covinans concerned about McDonald’s would have been able to talk only three minutes each. But when William Tarozzi became mayor in April, he liberalized the policy on public comment.

“When I became mayor, I felt that, after the council discussions, citizens should be allowed to speak,” Tarozzi said. “Why should we have the last words? They should be able to challenge the council.”

That can lead to long, long council meetings like the one last week. “There’s got to be a better solution,” said Councilman Steve Herfert. “When you have people speaking for 15 minutes, it’s unfair to the other side. We need established rules. Otherwise, the meetings turn into filibusters.”

In Rosemead, which limits speakers to two minutes each, city law prohibits meetings from going past 11 p.m. Unresolved issues are continued to 7 a.m. the next morning.

Council meetings start at 6:30 p.m., and usually end at 11 p.m. in Pomona, said City Clerk Elizabeth Villeral. The council has the option to continue the meeting. Each person is allowed five minutes to speak.

Pasadena meetings usually start at 12:30 p.m., and last eight or nine hours, said Assistant City Clerk Kathryn Marshall. Each person is allowed five minutes to speak.

After several meetings that have lasted into the wee hours of the morning, even Tarozzi says that something must be done.

“I’m going to talk to staff, to see if anything can be done to shorten the meetings, but still allow everyone to speak,” Tarozzi said.

“I’m going to recommend that, if a hearing goes over two hours, that it be continued on a Saturday morning, and possibly let staff take Friday off. I will not cut off citizen input.”

THE GIFT OF GAB

Time citizens are allowed to comment Alhambra 5 minutes Arcadia 5 minutes Baldwin Park 5 minutes Bradbury 5 minutes Claremont 3 minutes Covina 5 minutes Diamond Bar unlimited Duarte 5 minutes El Monte unlimited Glendora 3 minutes Industry unlimited Irwindale 5 minutes La Puente 5 minutes La Verne unlimited Monrovia unlimited Monterey Park 3 minutes Pasadena 5 minutes Pomona 5 minutes Rosemead 2 minutes San Dimas 2 minutes San Gabriel 10 minutes San Marino unlimited Sierra Madre 5 minutes South El Monte 5 minutes South Pasadena unlimited Temple City 5 minutes Walnut 3 minutes West Covina unlimited