Will Fayette Commission kick public comment to the meeting’s end?

At its workshop meeting Wednesday, the Fayette County Commission will begin to tackle a detailed updating of the ordinance that governs how meetings are run.

Although there has been some sentiment to move the public comment portion of the meeting to the end of the agenda, the ordinance prepared by county staff keeps it near the beginning of the meeting.

Commission Chairman Herb Frady has previously said he would prefer moving public comment to the end of the meeting because of the rancorous comments that have been made in recent months. Frady has argued that those doing business with the county should be heard first by dispensing with the agenda before public comments are aired.

Doing so, however, would deny citizens the ability to give feedback on any of the decisions the commission is slated to make at a given meeting, according to Commissioner Steve Brown, who opposed the proposed move.

The proposed ordinance would require citizens to sign up at least 15 minutes prior to the meeting if they wish to address the commission during public comments. The ordinance maintains the current five minutes allowed per speaker and does not limit the subject matter.

A number of citizens have taken to using the public comment portion of the meeting to criticize Frady along with commissioners Robert Horgan and Lee Hearn, most often to take issue with their support of the West Fayetteville Bypass project.

It was Frady who in June 2002 moved to expand the time limit on public comments from three to five minutes; the motion passed unanimously. And it was in January 2007 that the commission, again upon Frady’s motion, moved the public comments near the top of the agenda; previously the public comments were near the end of the agenda.

That move was supported unanimously, including by the current commissioners Horgan and Hearn, along with then-commissioners Eric Maxwell and Jack Smith.

The new ordinance proposed by county staff governs specifically how meetings are to be run, with a set of rules for commissioners’ conduct and separate regulations for the public.

Among the rules for the public are that all those in the audience must “conduct themselves in a respectful manner” and a ban on profanity.

Also, the public is required to either turn off their cellphones or put them in silent mode, although a phone or other device may be used to make a video or audio recording of the meeting.