Public comments at the end of meetings have become rare as the meetings creep toward the next day.
By NORA KOCH
Published September 12, 2004
TARPON SPRINGS - With the clock ticking toward midnight, the City Commission wound down its agenda and opened the floor for public comments.
No one from the town of 21,000 approached the microphone to speak.
That's because most of the audience had left long ago and was probably home sleeping.
After a string of five-hour meetings in July and August that delayed public comment - one of the last items on the agenda - until near 11 p.m., the City Commission is changing the format of its meetings to give the public a chance to speak before bedtime.
As of Oct. 1, the public comment portion of the meeting will move to the top of the agenda, after the pledge and closer to the 6:30 p.m. meeting start.
And with three of the last four meetings lasting past 11 p.m. - and requiring a vote to do so - the commission is also trying to rein in the gabfests and make the meetings more efficient and productive.
At a 31/2-hour commission retreat last month, officials pondered how to do that. Recent meetings have dragged on because of discussion about the budget, a major road improvement project, a hearing about the proposed Wal-Mart store and other hot topics.
By the time those discussions were over, few were left in the audience for the public comment portion.
Commissioner Jim Archer said he's seen residents show up to the meeting specifically to make a comment, but give up and leave before the public comment portion.
"They're just not able to wait that late," Archer said.
"I stay," said Commissioner Peter Nehr. "But most people can't. They have to go to work the next day. They have kids. They have responsibilities. At the end of the meeting it's me and city staff sitting in the audience."
Mayor Beverley Billiris said she heard a few complaints from residents that meetings were too long, essentially nullifying the public comment portion.
"A lot of residents can't wait that late," she said. Plus, the camera that broadcasts the meetings on cable television stops recording before 11 p.m.
And while Billiris said the late meetings don't keep her up past her bedtime, she does feel for the staff members who attend the meetings and then have to report for work at 8 the next morning.
"We all have businesses and jobs that we have to report to in the morning as well," said Billiris, who owns a sponge business. "It it's an issue that really has to be worked out. There's no one on the board who won't stay late to work out it out. ... But, drawing the meetings out just to hear ourselves talk, you're not being respectful to staff or other commissioners."
But one commissioner touts the value of discussion at the meetings so the public can watch decisions unfold. He isn't sure that efficiency should take the place of discourse.
Commissioner Peter Dalacos fears curbing discussion at meetings in the name of efficiency could leave the public in the lurch.
"If you ask your questions ahead of time and get your answers, then you just vote," Dalacos said. "A lot of times people get the impression that these are already done deals."
"Sometimes it's just important to ask those questions out in public so the people are aware of the information," too, said Dalacos, referring to suggestions that questions to staff be asked outside of meetings.
At the retreat, commissioners discussed the need to come prepared for meetings, and keep questions on topic when discussing agenda items. They also talked about allowing the mayor to use discretion to move controversial items, or those that brought in a large audience, closer to the beginning of the meeting.
They also decided to move the public comment portion.
Civic activist Jessie Burke has stuck out most commission meetings since 1979, and while recent meetings have been lengthy, none compare to the legendary one that lasted until 2 a.m., took a recess and reconvened at 8 a.m. for about three more hours.
"I remember the donuts and coffee tasted awfully good," said Burke.
She thinks moving the public comment portion to the beginning of the meeting could be promising, but fears that residents would then not stick around to hear other important comments from commissioners.
"Moving it to the front means John and Jane Doe who have six kids at home waiting for supper can dash in, making their comments known, and then get home," Burke said.
