THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, September 29, 1994 TAG: 9409290014
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A18 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Editorial
LENGTH: Short : 46 lines
Chesapeake City Council, in what it said was an effort to end a ``circus'' atmosphere, has adopted rules to limit citizen comment on non-agenda items until after the meeting is officially adjourned and the television cameras are turned off. While the for-television comments of some council critics are often long-winded and occasionally abusive, the council's new rules are unlikely to achieve the intended effect and might just give their critics more publicity.
Mayor William E. Ward, whom fellow City Council members said they were protecting by imposing limits on citizen appearances, opposed the new rules, as did Councilman Alan Krasnoff. Six other council members voted for them.
The council now will listen to citizens after city staffers are dismissed and cameras for cable television are shut off. As public employees, however, council members and staffers should welcome citizen comment and ideas. And citizen comments often enliven dull meetings.
Mayor Ward, who has endured the gadflies' rude label of ``Billy Boy'' and, along with other council members, harsh criticism, credits viewers with sense enough to make their own judgments about what they see and hear. The critics also are likely to find ways around the new rules.
That's not to say citizen appearances should be free-for-alls. The mayor can yield his gavel whenever boundaries of propriety are crossed.
City councils elsewhere in Hampton Roads have varying approaches to citizen involvement with non-agenda items. These are Suffolk's guidelines, which are similar to Portsmouth's:
Early appearances, which precede the agenda, are generally limited to five minutes per person or 30 minutes total; sign-up ends at noon the day before meetings. Late appearances are possible by signing up until meetings start.
Virginia Beach requires a ``sponsor'' to put an item on the agenda. The Norfolk council and staffers hear citizen comments last (though the Norfolk council meets during the day).
Council members must suffer the slings and arrows of their critics. And creating the appearance of stifling criticism usually backfires on its creators. by CNB