City council once again changes course on public comment

The city council continues to tweak its policy on how long the public can comment at council meetings.

By Charles Sercombe
The city council has once again tinkered with its rules for public comment.
A few weeks ago the council reversed a long-standing policy allowing public comment to have no time limit.
The council changed it up recently, and restricted the public comment portion of the meeting to 30 minutes at the beginning of the meetings, and 15 minutes at the end of the meetings – no matter if there are people who did not get a chance to speak.
There was immediate blowback from residents, prompting one, Justin Jessop, to stage a silent protest when his turn to speak came up.
Instead of saying anything, he remained silent while holding up a sign that read: “Hamtramck doesn’t want to hear my voice.”
Beyond that protest, an attorney with the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) Ramos Wadood said the new policy violated the state’s Open Meetings Act.
He cited a 1978 opinion by former state Attorney General Frank Kelly that said the restriction of public comment to 30 minutes had the potential to deny someone from addressing the council, which would then be a violation of the OMA.
Wadood told the council that listening to the public “is the most fundamental requirement” of their job.
While there was outrage over the new policy in Hamtramck, the City of Ferndale also has a 30-minute restriction at the beginning of their city council meetings.
There have been no objections raised in Ferndale.
Mayor Amer Ghalib was against the new restriction from the get-go, and when there were people who had been initially shut out from speaking, he suspended the new rule.
At recent council meeting, the 30-minute limit was kept at the beginning of the meeting, but the 15-minute limit at the end was scrubbed.
As of now, the public can speak on any topic for up to three minutes at the beginning of the meeting, and up to two minutes at the end of council business.
Speakers can ask for an additional minute to talk at the beginning and end of the meetings.
But there is one new rule for the public comment portion at the end of meetings, and it reads:
“… If a significant portion of the public comments are related to a specific topic, one member representing each view point must be nominated by each side, and each such person will be allotted five minutes each to express their respective viewpoint. …”
The council can also elect to terminate public comment at the end of meetings at any time.
Councilmember Nayeem Choudhury, who is seeking re-election, said that, while he respects and encourages public comment, there has to be a limit.
“We have to go home,” he said.
Hamtramck council meetings can be notoriously long. During one meeting, public comment, including the reading of letters and emails, went on for three hours.
That was concerning a proposal by the mayor and council to ban the display of pride flags on public property. The proposal, which also caused strong backlash, was unanimously supported by the all-male, all-Muslim council.
Although the city, in the past, had allowed the display of pride flags on city flagpoles, the council then banned them, with the intent to remain “neutral” when it comes to flags that some deem controversial.
Members of the Muslim community here have called pride flags “sin” flags.
The issue is still roiling members of the public on both sides of the issue.
In a related issue regarding pride flags, there is an ongoing rash of pride flags being stolen from residences.
Posted Oct. 13, 2023