Town of Chapin work session brings discussion about controlling public comments at meetings

Chapin, SC (Paul Kirby) The Chapin town council discussed setting up some protocols that would allow them to better control what’s said by the public during their various meetings. In years past, there had been limits on what and how long a member of the public could comment during a meeting. Since Mayor David Knight took office in January, those had been relaxed, but now the town thinks it may be necessary to strengthen their processes and procedures to make their meetings run more smoothly and keep things moving forward in a productive manner.

Items that the council’s members thought might be important to include in the guidelines were giving priority to town residents, their utility customers, and residents who live inside the area deemed their utility service district by the county when comments are scheduled. Since these are the people the town’s elected government represents, officials think it seems only fair that those people have priority, especially if time is limited, to speak. It was also discussed moving comments sessions forward on the agenda so that the elected leaders could hear these before they make decisions. Other considerations are returning to a time limit for comments and the policy of making sure that comments are regarding items that are listed on that particular meeting’s agenda.

Town leaders do feel it’s important to hear from everyone who has ideas and questions regarding what’s going on in Chapin. To make that possible, they are considering regular community meetings or forums. These “Community Engagement Councils” would be held separately from their regular meetings but would allow anyone to come forward and have input. The important thing here is that if problems regarding the town arise, attending citizens are open to having a constructive dialogue about finding solutions for these issues. No one wants these to turn into sessions where people can come with problems and simply unleash them on the town or its employees. If you are interested in becoming a part of a solution, these would be the perfect place for you to engage.

By the end of the work session the council was in agreement that new protocols would be in place for the next public council meeting. That would include speakers signing up to make comments prior to the meeting, providing a name and address for each speaker, limiting comments in length and to agenda items, and each speaker being given a notecard when they sign up reminding them of the protocols for speaking.

Nicholle Burroughs, the town’s director of communications, will put together guidelines for the “Community Engagement Councils” which the town hopes to hold at least quarterly. More information on these will be forthcoming in the near future.