CYPRESS : Council Limits Public Speeches to 3 Minutes

In an effort to crack down on lengthy public speeches, the City Council has approved an ordinance that limits speakers to three minutes and voted to purchase a timing device to let speakers know when their time is up.

“The new ordinance will be in effect at the council’s next meeting, on March 27, and I think we’ll have the timer by then also,” City Manager Darrell Essex announced at Monday night’s council meeting.

The new ordinance reduces from 10 minutes to three minutes the time allowed a public speaker at council meetings.

To help enforce the time limit, the council Monday night voted to buy a light-activated timer that will warn speakers to stop talking.

The timer, which costs $1,255, will flash a green light as the speaker begins, a yellow light when one minute remains and a red light when the three minutes have elapsed.

In addition, the City Council has said it plans to limit overall time devoted to topics, such as the recall election, to 10 minutes for each side at the beginning of council meetings.

The crackdown was prompted after several recent council meetings lasted past midnight.

The prolonged meetings were caused by residents who lined up to speak during the public comment portion of the agenda.

The most debated topic was a proposal to allow a carpet warehouse in the city and a recall effort that targets three council members because of their vote for that warehouse.