Lawrence city commissioners on Tuesday will consider an agenda change to add 45 minutes of general public comment before the beginning of one meeting per month.
During general public comment, community members can speak to the commission about things relevant to city business that are not on the meeting agenda.
The Lawrence City Commission in June 2024 voted to move the general public comment period to the very end of each meeting and to no longer broadcast it. This means that sometimes general public comment doesn’t begin until very late into the evening, and many community members have voiced concerns about people who cannot stay that late for any number of reasons, such as school, work, transit schedules, health and more.
Under changes commissioners discussed last month and will vote on Tuesday, they would meet starting at 5 p.m. rather than 5:45 p.m. during the second meeting of each month. They will open general public comment for 45 minutes, which would allow approximately 15 speakers if each used their full three minutes.
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If the public comment period did not fill the entire 45 minutes, the commission would adjourn until 5:45 so people would not miss the beginning of the regular agenda.
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The commission’s meetings on the first and third Tuesdays of each month would still include general public comment periods at the ends of the meetings.
The changes also apply general public comment rules to the city’s advisory boards. Not every board limits general public comments to three minutes per person, but the revised resolution states that three minutes will be the limit “Unless specifically modified by the presiding officer.”
People who want to provide public comment would be “encouraged to join the Governing Body in this pledge of civility: ‘Recognizing the diverse backgrounds and perspectives among us, I acknowledge that the principles of democracy play a vital role in shaping and sustaining our community,'” according to the agenda item. “‘There is no democracy without healthy debate and no healthy debate without dignity and civility; therefore, I pledge to be civil in my comments and treat others with dignity, not contempt.'”
If approved, the order of city commission agendas would also change. The city manager’s report and commission reports would move toward the beginnings of meetings, in between the consent agenda (a list of items that are generally considered routine and approved with one motion, unless a commissioner asks to pull an item for discussion) and the regular agenda.
Commissioners will also consider a resolution applicable to themselves, “pledging to practice and promote civility in public service and community engagement.”
See the complete agenda item below.
Meeting info
Lawrence city commissioners will meet at 5:45 p.m. Tuesday, May 12 at Lawrence City Hall, 6 E. Sixth St.
The commission accepts written public comment emailed to [email protected] until noon the day of meetings. The commission also hears live public comment during meetings, both in person and virtually.
City commission meetings are no longer livestreamed on YouTube. In order to watch the meeting online remotely, attendees must join via Zoom at this link, which also allows participants to provide public comment virtually. Meeting recordings are uploaded to the city’s YouTube channel the next day.
See the commission’s complete meeting agenda at this link.
Here’s the public comment agenda item and draft civility pledge:
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Mackenzie Clark (she/her), reporter/founder of The Lawrence Times, can be reached at [email protected]. Read more of her work for the Times here. Check out her staff bio here.
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