Based on recent turnout at City Hall, Galesburg citizens appear to be more engaged and eager to speak on a variety of topics at meetings involving the Galesburg City Council. Now, the City Council is considering several proposed ordinance changes that could modify how and when the public can interact with their representatives.
Here is a breakdown on the history of public comment at city meetings. City Clerk Kelli Bennewitz contributed much of the historical data at the request of WGIL.
Meeting times: Spring forward?
The Galesburg City Council Meeting start time was set at 7:30 p.m. in 1962 and didn’t change until May 2010.
Here is a snippet from the Council letter in 2010 that explained it:
The City Council has completed a trial period of five regularly scheduled meetings changing the meeting time from 7:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. since February. After discussion at the April 5, 2010, work session, the consensus of the Council was to permanently change the meeting time to 6:30 p.m. for all regularly scheduled meetings. This change would become effective at the first regular City Council meeting scheduled for June 7, 2010. Sal Garza was mayor at this time.
Then, in June of 2019, Council approved to change the time to 5:30 p.m. John Pritchard was mayor. Peter Schwartzman, then Ward 5 alderman, opposed moving the meeting start time to 5:30 p.m.
Mayor Schwartzman recently proposed moving meeting times to 6 p.m. to afford more convenient access for the public.
Time limits, sign-in sheets, and starting later: Galesburg Council discusses changes to meetings
Public guaranteed a voice in 2011
In January 2011, Public Act 96-1473 became effective amending the Open Meetings Act to permit any person an opportunity to address public officials by requiring the addition of a Public Comment section to every agenda, including all boards and commissions. All municipalities had to establish rules on public comments at all meetings. Having a long-standing policy on public comment was not enough to meet this obligation.
The section for Public Comment was not added to Galesburg city agendas until March 2011. In fact, Public Comment was never even listed in the Municipal Code until 2014.
Before being required by law to allow public comment, mayors would simply ask for public comment at some point during the meeting. It wasn’t on any agendas, but they took it upon themselves to ask. Mayors have historically allowed people to speak on specific agenda items as well.
‘More civil public input’ or ‘restricting freedom of speech’? Galesburg Council considers changes to public comment
Giving citizens a high 5
Council approved the time limit of 3 minutes in 2014. Council then approved to amend the time from 3 minutes to 5 minutes in June 2022. This was done at the request of Mayor Schwartzman. It was approved unanimously, including current Council members Bradley Hix, Wayne Dennis, Dwight White and Sarah Davis.
A proposed ordinance would reduce the time a person can speak to 2 minutes, from 5. During first reading at the previous Council meeting, there was talk of increasing the proposal to 3 minutes.
The proposed ordinance would also limit closing comments by Council members to 2 minutes per member. There has never been a time limit for Council member comments.
The clock is running …
The city implemented a new microphone and voting system in 2020. That allows for the podium/public mic to be set for a specific time limit. It starts flashing with one minute left so that the citizen, Mayor and Council are aware. The time clock is also projected onto the screens in Council Chambers.
Come on down
Members of the public have never been required to register to speak at city meetings. Generally, citizens raise their hand to speak, and the mayor motions them to the microphone to address the City Council.
A proposed ordinance reads: All speakers shall sign-in and state a topic that would be limited to city business. Speakers must be called upon by the presiding officer prior to addressing the public body.
The Council has not discussed how a sign-in sheet would be executed.
Currently, both the Knox County Board and School District 205 utilize some form of sign-in sheets at their meetings.
