Post last updated at 5:09 p.m. Saturday, May 11:
Lawrence city commissioners approved most proposed changes to public comment procedures, including no longer broadcasting general public comment live.
Commissioners hear public comment on specific agenda items they’re considering, but people may also address the commission about any topics “germane” to city business that aren’t on the agenda during the general public comment period — which has been near the beginning of meetings for years.
Commissioners voted to:
• Move general public comment almost to the end of the meetings, but not the very end.
Frequent commenter Chris Flowers told the commission that people often make points in general public comment that commissioners then ask city staff to address at the end of the meeting. Some commissioners said they thought that was a good point.
The general public comment period will be after all the regular agenda items and work sessions, but before commission items.
• No longer broadcast public comment on the meeting livestreams, but still include public comment in recordings of meetings.
It was not clear whether the broadcast of meetings will be turned back on at the end of public comment to publicly share commission items.
• Strongly encourage public commenters to give their names and zip codes, but not require signing up in advance or requiring speakers to share their full addresses.
“I hate that we are doing this to our community,” Commissioner Amber Sellers said. She said she thought it was performative for the commission to say it values public comment and then dictate what it should look like and where it should be.
Finkeldei said he didn’t think it was performative to be concerned about taking up regular agenda items at 11 p.m. He said the current format elevates general public comments over comments on agenda items.
Commissioners heard from 17 members of the public, most of whom encouraged the commission to both keep public comment as it has been and to keep the Sustainability Advisory Board. The public comment changes and many others were lumped into one agenda item that also included major changes to advisory boards, including sunsetting the Sustainability Advisory Board.
Several people told commissioners Tuesday, and several others have said in the past, that moving general public comment to the end of the meeting raised accessibility concerns and could be limiting for people whose schedules don’t allow them to spend all evening at the meetings. In addition, fixed-route city buses stop running before meetings are usually over.
Meetings can last anywhere from an hour to several hours, as Tuesday’s did, and there’s no set time to know when you have to be present or online to give public comment at the end of a meeting.
Some members of the public had concerns about language stating that the primary way to participate in meetings was in person and virtual access cannot be guaranteed. That language has been in meeting agendas for years now. City Clerk Sherri Riedemann said the city had no intention of getting rid of the Zoom option.
The draft changes included a time limit of 11 p.m. for the conclusion of meetings, except to finish the item that is already in progress. Current procedures allow the commission to vote to extend meetings; the draft resolution does not contain that option. Commissioner Brad Finkeldei said he wanted that option added back, and other commissioners agreed.
Mayor Bart Littlejohn, Vice Mayor Mike Dever, Commissioner Lisa Larsen and Finkeldei voted in favor of the public comment changes. Sellers abstained. The change will take effect immediately.
The changes were packed into a significant rewrite of the commission’s meeting procedures. Most of the changes will not substantially alter procedures and are to bring the city in line with the League of Municipalities Code of Procedure for Kansas Cities.
The commission deferred a work session and consideration of a new draft ordinance modifying the duties of the Community Police Review Board.
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Mackenzie Clark (she/her), reporter/founder of The Lawrence Times, can be reached at mclark (at) lawrencekstimes (dot) com. Read more of her work for the Times here. Check out her staff bio here.
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