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School Board looks at public input policy
By BARBARA BEHRENDT © St. Petersburg Times, published December 14, 2000 INVERNESS -- Former superintendent candidate and longtime activist Ansel Briggs just wanted to talk to the School Board about advisory/enhancement councils. What he didn't want to do was comply with the board's list of rules on public input that regulate when citizens can address the board, what they can talk about at certain times and how long they can talk. So Briggs, a frequent visitor to the microphone at board meetings, on Tuesday ignored School Board chairwoman Patience Nave's requests to identify his topic in advance and wait until others who had a topic to discuss that was on Tuesday's agenda got to speak. Instead, he stepped up to the front of the room when Nave asked him a question about his topic and handed hand-made Christmas cards to School Board members and officials. Then he walked up to the podium and spoke for longer than the allowable five minutes. Briggs said Wednesday that he heard Nave tell him that she wanted to call someone else to the microphone first and understood she didn't want him talking when he did. He saw his actions as a protest the the much-debated public input policies of the board which were discussed again in detail Tuesday, both before and after Briggs made his appearance. The discussion was one of several about board operations that came up Tuesday, only the second regular board meeting for which members Ginger Bryant and Carol Snyder and Superintendent David Hickey were all present. Snyder had raised the issue of public input at her very first meeting and has stuck with her conviction since then that the public has not felt welcome at board meetings, and she wants people to have an easier time speaking to their elected officials. At one point during a discussion about a change in high school attendance boundaries, Snyder asked whether the board could take any input from audience members on the topic before the board moved on. Nave responded that the public input topic would come up later and moved to the next agenda item. Some time later, she explained the board's public input policy. Citizens are allowed to speak after recognitions and other scheduled presentations on any topic coming up on the agenda for five minutes. At the end of the meeting, they can speak on any other topic for up to three minutes. The time is kept using a traffic-signal-like device which shows green, then yellow to indicate time is getting short and finally red when time is up. Nave on Tuesday repeated her belief that the timer helps people who are unaccustomed to public speaking. The board hasn't always followed the rules, and the previous chairwoman, Sandra "Sam" Himmel, would allow comment on topics at times other than those listed on the agenda. But on Tuesday, Nave stuck with the written protocol. Snyder said again that people should be allowed to talk about a topic after the board has discussed it but before they vote. She said the citizens support the schools financially and should be allowed to voice their opinions. Board member Pat Deutschman said she wouldn't mind allowing people to speak at the beginning and the end of the meeting, regardless of their topic, so people wouldn't have to stay until the end of meetings, which sometimes get lengthy. She said the board could also consider a scheduled time for public input. Himmel said she doesn't believe that the board has been unwelcoming to the citizens. "What person did we tell to come in, sit down and shut up," she said. Himmel said the press had made an issue of the timer the board uses and that it wasn't a problem. "This has just gotten to be a mountain out of a molehill," she said. But Snyder said people do not feel the board has been welcoming. "Perception is truth for the person who holds the perception," she said. Later in the session, several people in the audience did speak to the board, and two noted that they had concerns about public input. Teacher Chris Becker said it was "horrendous" to make the public wait through a four-hour meeting to comment on issues of concern. He said he also believed citizens should get to talk before, during or after board discussion because sometimes questions come up that must be answered at the time. He urged the board immediately to loosen the rules. Frank Briercheck echoed Becker's concerns. Snyder said later that discussion about the public comments issue should be a priority when the board sets workshop dates because citizens are interested in it. Nave said the issue would become a top priority if other board members also list it. Snyder also repeated her concern that the board should make its opening prayer more inclusive and not strictly use Christian prayers at each meeting. The idea has been debated publicly. On Tuesday, Nave gave the invocation, ending with the phrase "in Christ's name." Snyder said she has received letters of concern, particularly from Jewish families who have had their children report that, in school, their Christian friends have either tried to convert them or warned them they were going to hell. "We need to eliminate that totally from our system," Snyder said. Deutschman said she liked the idea of rotating the prayer among board members so that each could offer the prayer of his or her choice. Board member Ginger Bryant has already said that she likes the idea of having a moment of silence rather than a prayer, and Snyder addressed her last prayer to "almighty God."
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