By Dave Fidlin
Correspondent
Hoping to strike a balance between honoring open meetings laws and giving persons adequate opportunities to comment on specific issues, East Troy officials have revised an ordinance concerning discussion at public meetings.
The Village Board on Feb. 6 adopted an ordinance pertaining to meeting discussion. The minted document came on the heels of a heated discussion last month concerning what types of constraints should be used.
The Village Board historically has restricted audience participation to the “citizen participation” portion of the agenda, with the exception of applicants who need to appear before the board for a specific agenda item.
The board in the past also has capped residents’ comments to three minutes. The new ordinance lifts that previous restriction and now caps it at five minutes.
Several board members, including Trustee Ann Zess, have asserted the previous policy was too prohibitive, particularly for residents and property owners who wish to speak on an agenda item as the board is reviewing it.
“I just don’t want this board to be too strict,” Zess said.
Village President Randy Timms earned the support of his elected colleagues by adding a provision that gives anyone with “direct involvement” on an agenda item the ability to speak on it while it is under review.
“But what we’re not going to do is let Tom, Dick and Harry just come up here and say what they think,” Timms said.
All seven board members will decide if a particular speaker falls into the “direct involvement” category on a case-by-case basis.
