A.G. Gancarski
Even in the best of times, public comment is often the most tedious part of a Jacksonville City Council meeting.
The spectacle, as is the case with most meetings of governmental bodies, involves familiar gadflies making histrionic points.
Generally, that’s considered the price of doing business. However, as was seen recently with discussions of expanding LGBT rights in Jacksonville, those three-minute speaker slots add up to hours very quickly, leading to having to hold public comment over for a second day.
In the spirit of economy comes 2017-160, a Jacksonville City Council ordinance that would allow a presiding officer to cap speaker times at under three minutes.
The bill had cleared the Rules Committee a fortnight hence, but was re-referred to committee at last week’s meeting of the City Council, as various legislators discussed the importance of public input.
In that context, Rules tackled it once more … with a successful floor amendment from Councilman Danny Becton.
The amendment allows speakers to “not have to state their address” in a live microphone, Becton said, if the info is visible on the screens of council members.
Council VP John Crescimbeni also wanted to address multiple speakers on the same message, noting that could make a meeting longer.
During the HRO debate, it was revealed that 187 speakers missed their chances to speak because of the three-minute allowance.
Councilman Danny Becton, in discussing the potential of a council debate on truncating speaker times, noted that debate itself would shave time off of speaker times.
Councilman Greg Anderson suggested a minimum time — perhaps a minute — for speakers as well.
The bill — again — will be considered by the full City Council on Apr. 25.
