McCalpin’s Unofficial Guide to Richardson City Council Meetings
by William "Bill" McCalpin
Part 5
Policies and Procedures for the Visitors Section
The City Council does not currently have a formal Policies and Procedures document for the conduct of Council Meetings, but if they did have a formal document, the Policies and Procedures for the Visitors Section would go something like this.
The Visitor’s Section of the City Council agenda is an opportunity for citizens to speak their minds on any subject that may fall under the scope of the Council’s duties, whether or not that subject is actually on the day’s agenda.
The City Council wishes to balance the benefit of providing on “open mike” against the possible disruption to the Council’s and the people’s business when the process of public input at a City Council meeting significantly distorts the agenda. For this reason, the Council follows these rules to create and manage the “Visitor’s Section” in formal Council meetings.
Time
For formal City Council meetings, the Visitor’s Section appears in the City Council’s Agenda immediately after the Call to Order, The Pledges of Allegiance, and any opening remarks by the presiding officer.
For City Council Worksessions, the Visitor’s Section appears immediately after the Call to Order by the presiding officer of the meeting.
Generally, up to thirty (30) minutes is allocated for the public to speak. If there are more speakers than can comfortably fit within this thirty minute window (see “Duration”), and the Council does not wish to extend this time window, then the presiding officer may choose to add an additional Visitor’s Section to the end of the agenda, with the consent of the Council.
Duration
The maximum amount of time allotted in the agenda to the Visitor’s Section near the beginning of the Council meeting shall be thirty minutes, unless this time is extended by the presiding officer with the consent of a majority of Council members present.
(The purpose of this limit is to prevent serious inconvenience to other citizens who are attending the Council meeting to observe or possibly speak at a public hearing later on the agenda.)
If a second Visitor’s Section has been set at the end of the meeting, then the presiding officer may set the duration of the second Visitor’s Section with the Council’s approval.
(Note that the duration of the second Visitor’s Section is much more flexible, and can be set by the presiding officer to fit the needs of the citizens attending and the Council.)
Citizen Speakers
(a) Citizens who wish to speak in the Visitor’s Section are asked to notify the City Secretary in advance of the beginning of the Visitor’s Section of their intention to speak. The City Secretary will ask the speaker to complete a short sign up card to capture the citizen’s name, address, and any other information required by the Council.
(The purpose of asking citizens to notify the City Secretary of their desire to speak is to permit the City Secretary and the presiding officer to get a head count of potential speakers, since the presiding officer may make adjustments in speaker times and number based on the expected number of speakers.)
(b) The citizen speaker shall address the presiding officer at all times, and not address individual Council members.
(This requirement is because the citizen is addressing the entire Council, to inform the Council as a whole on some issue or to ask the entire Council to act on an issue.)
(c) The citizen speaker is limited to a maximum of 5 minutes, unless extended by the presiding officer with the consent of the Council (see “Duty of the Presiding Officer”).
(d) The citizen speaker may speak on one or more subjects, but must stay within the 5 minute limit or whatever limit is set by the presiding officer (see “Duty of the Presiding Officer”).
(e) The citizen speaker may speak only once during a Visitor’s Section.
(An advantage of the “speak once” rule with the 5 minute limit is that this procedure encourages the citizen speaker to organize his/her thoughts and to present them efficiently and effectively. This is a courtesy not only to the Council but also to the other citizens who are present.)
(f) The citizen speaker must speak avoid discussion of personalities and indecorous language, and refrain from personal attacks and verbal abuse. The presiding officer has the authority to cause the citizen to cease speaking to prevent disruption of the Council meeting, for whatever reason.
(g) The citizen speaker is asked to make a presentation, not engage in a discussion or debate with Council members. While the citizen speaker may ask questions, the presiding officer can rule the question out of order if the question is inappropriate or out of bounds. However, to the extent compatible with state law, the presiding officer may answer the citizen’s question or direct another Council member or City staff member to answer.
(The Open Meetings Act in the State of Texas prohibits extended discussion in “open mike” sections on subjects that were not previously in the agenda. To quote the Act:
“If the speaker raises a subject that is not on the agenda – i.e., for which no statutory notice has been given – the governmental body is forbidden from giving more than:
Note that NO deliberation (e.g., “a verbal exchange during a meeting”, as defined in Part VI.A of the Open Meetings 2008 Handbook from the Texas AG’s office) may take place, other than to make a “proposal to place the subject on the agenda for a subsequent meeting.” Part VIII.C, Open Meetings 2008 Handbook, State of Texas)
(h) Citizens who speak in the Visitor’s Section are still free to speak in one or more Public Hearings at the same meeting, subject to the Council policies and procedures for Public Hearings.
Duty of the Presiding Officer
(a) Notwithstanding the rules laid out above in the three previous sections, the presiding officer of the Council meeting has broad latitude to alter these rules as appropriate and with the consent of the Council. For example, the presiding officer, when faced with more speakers than can fit within the 30 minute window at 5 minutes per speaker, may reduce the maximum time that a citizen may speak to 3 minutes or less, as appropriate. Any such changes in procedure are temporary and expire at the end of the Council meeting.
(The purpose of the procedure described here is to give the presiding officer broad latitude in managing the agenda of the Council meeting and the Visitor’s Section in particular, while at the same time, establish a generally accepted framework by which the Visitor’s Section shall operate. It is not the intention of these procedures to unduly limit the opportunity for public input, but to establish ground rules for all and to give the presiding officer the ability to balance the needs of the citizen speakers, other citizens attending, and the Council members who are charged with conducting the City’s business.)
(b) While the presiding officer is given the primary responsibility for the management of agenda of the Council meeting, these rules can be changed by a majority of the Council members present at the meeting. Any such changes in procedure are temporary and expire at the end of the Council meeting.
(The Council members are encouraged not to participate in debates during the Council meeting on how the Visitor’s Section shall be run; however, if a procedural change must be made, the Council does have the authority to direct the presiding officer to do so. However, this should be the rare case.)
Editorial Note: McCalpin's Unofficial Guide expresses no opinion on issues or candidates – it is purely information for all residents. All of the information expressed in McCalpin's Unofficial Guide is purely the opinion of the author. The Richardson Echo publishes this as a service but does not endorse nor refute its contents.