The Haywood County Commissioners decided to tighten the rules on public comment at their meeting after the time was used for a free political ad. Public comment is televised at a cost to taxpayers of $175 an hour.
Public comment on the public comment weakened the guidelines. The commissioners were going to limit public comment to half an hour, while retaining the three-minute time limit for individual presentations. To make matters worse, persons interested in speaking would have to sign up, and the commissioners would get to choose who they wanted to hear first or at all. Some objected to a requirement that presenters provide the board with fourteen copies of their comments.
The commissioners eased up on the proposal and lifted the thirty-minute limit. They also explained that fourteen copies were needed only if a speaker wished to provide all policymakers and reporters with the information.
For the record, I’ve only attended about fifty meetings of the Buncombe County Commissioners in recent history, and the claim that they don’t show up until after public comment is over was not true in any of those instances.
