Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: THURSDAY, February 14, 1991                   TAG: 9102140442
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: B2   EDITION: STATE 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: CHESAPEAKE                                LENGTH: Medium

LONG-WINDED COUNCIL TRIES TIME CLOCK

By a 7-2 vote, the council also agreed to an overall time limit of 45 minutes of discussion to wrap up a single topic.

"I may need nine or 10 clocks," said Betty J. Callaway, the city clerk who will begin keeping a stopwatch on council members, effective March 12. "I'm not sure yet."

The new rules approved Tuesday are designed to speed up council meetings that have routinely run past midnight. At a meeting in October, the final gavel was sounded at 3:20 a.m.

The council also considered a proposal to limit speaking appearances by an individual citizen to four times a year, but that idea was scrapped.

Councilman Arthur L. Dwyer, who voted with Councilman Alan P. Krasnoff against the limits on speaking by council members, said the mayor should be able to keep the meetings moving without the restrictions on time.

But Councilwoman Willa S. Bazemore, who helped draft the limits, said she didn't want to return home from another meeting to see her alarm clock approaching 4 a.m.

Mayor William E. Ward will have the responsibility of enforcing the time limits by cutting off speeches by council members who ramble on too long.

The council also is considering tightening the time limits on citizens who bring rezoning and use-permit applications for a vote, as well as limits on the speaking time of people who are opposed to those applications.

In neighboring Virginia Beach, the City Council took a similar step Tuesday to shorten council meetings by restricting the ability of members to add new items to the agenda at the last minute. The council also reduced its monthly meetings from four to three.