Hunter
01/06/22
The Iowa City City Council used their work session this week to discuss new rules for their public meetings.
The Press-Citizen reports that residents used 90 minutes to speak at every opportunity for public comment during a December meeting, urging the city to bring back the Zoom option for future council meetings.
The council agreed to the hybrid meetings and directed city staff to have it set up by the next meeting. However, they’re still debating how to set up rules for public comment. City manager Geoff Fruin and City attorney Eric Goers called the public comment section of the last meeting “disruptive,” and said the city could set clear rules in place to prevent that from happening again.
Goers added that although Iowa Code requires government meetings to be accessible to the public, it doesn’t require public comment unless it’s a public hearing for specific items. The city currently has a three-minute limit on speakers and usually closes public comment by 7 pm, but the newspaper reports that those rules aren’t always followed.
In a memo from Fruin and Goers to the council, they recommended the council set concrete rules, and those that cause disruption can be legally removed from the proceedings. The memo defines disruption as people who refuse to stop speaking when their time is up, those that repeatedly speak off topic, those who interrupt the meeting by shouting from the audience, those that bring signs that block views or paths, and anyone who makes a physical threat. Iowa Code would allow the city to press disorderly conduct or trespass charges for those who violate the rules.
The council decided to appoint Megan Alter and Janice Weiner to work with city staff and Mayor Bruce Teague to come up with a modified set of rules to be discussed with the entire Council.