- April 23, 2024
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The Volusia County Council is updating its public meeting rules ordinance, and among the changes is a time restriction for public participation on items not on the agenda at the start of each meeting.
Per a 3-2 vote at the council meeting on Tuesday, Aug. 3, (Councilmen Ben Johnson and Fred Lowry were absent) the time for public input will be limited to one hour. Councilwoman Heather Post and Chair Jeff Brower voted against.
“I don’t think it’s unreasonable to allow that time at the beginning of the meetings," Post said. "If there’s a lot of public comment, we can always discuss and change things around a little bit."
The councilwoman said this in response to the argument presented by the rest of the council members that a lengthy public comment session — such as the two hours that occurred during the short-term rental debate in mid-May — negatively impacted speakers and attorneys representing items scheduled in a meeting's agenda. Attorneys, in particular, often charge their clients by the hour, Councilwoman Billie Wheeler pointed out.
“We certainly are not denying them any time to speak, it’s just trying to get it organized so we can also conduct business afterward," Wheeler said.
Brower said some speakers aren't able to stay for the entire council meeting to be able to speak during the second opportunity for public participation at the meeting's conclusion.
"They’ve left businesses and employment to speak to us and I think we owe it to them to give them a voice in the morning," Brower said. "We can coat it any other way, but we’re restricting the public’s ability to have input with the council, in my opinion.”
Councilman Danny Robins said it came down to efficiency.
“It is 2021," he said. "No one here is trying to silence anybody, but it’s too easy to communicate as a representative between us and our constituents. The county and the taxpayers provide us with laptops, tablets, cell phones, ways to get email where we can hear some of these and better accommodate our constituents so they don’t have to sit here and miss work."
In addition to the time restriction public participation, the ordinance will also update its language to expressly adopt the parliamentary procedure of Robert's Rules of Order, address how points of orders may be raised and handled, and outline what constitutes as decorum in a public meeting. The new ordinance, to be brought back by county staff in September, will also give guidance on the use of videos in lieu of speaking during public participation.
