Speak Up: Scottsdale council approves effort to move public comments at meetings

A divided Scottsdale City Council voted 4-3 this week to reduce the number of public comment sections during council meetings from two to one and moved public comments to the end of those meetings, J. Graber reports. The council rejected a staff recommendation to reduce speakers’ comment period from three minutes to two minutes, and voted to increase the number of allowable speakers from 10 to 12. Other changes approved include removing the mayor’s ability to call a special meeting and giving it to the council, and eliminating the practice of polling council members about adding items to meeting agendas. Here’s what readers had to say about it on Facebook:

• “Ms. Massie has a lawsuit against the city of Surprise for speaking out at a Surprise City Council meeting. This is not any different and Scottsdale will have nothing to stand on. I hope others will put the pressure on Scottsdale to stop this.” — Shayna Parker
• “Council wants to discourage people from pointing out their misdeeds by making them wait for an unknown period of time (potentially 2 or 3 hours) and and to limit who will hear any criticism because attendees and viewers often leave when their topic is over.” — Dan Ishac
• “Resident grievances/concerns should be paramount. I'm not liking the direction of this new council and I helped get some of them elected.” — Brad Wierck
• “Absolutely mind boggling unless you are flat out trying to silence your constituents.” — Glynna Lynna
• “Unfortunately, what’s happening in our nation is now happening in our city. Wake up, America.” — Nick Davis