OPINION — Kudos to Councilmembers McMahon and Kalivianakis for voting against the new rules of procedure for council meetings.
Skillicorn will have you believe they were opposed to bringing back the call to public. Actually, their dissenting vote was cast against the unnecessary limitations of the new rules.
As to the call to public, the new rules have placed that portion of a meeting at the end of the agenda. The new rule requires an interested speaker to submit a Request to Speak card before the meeting begins. The majority council is punishing those who wish to speak by forcing them to stay for an entire meeting before they are allowed to do so. Call to public now has a thirty-minute time limit which means, even after waiting for the chance to speak, the time limit may have been reached when your name is called.
