Following two recent special meetings where there was an outpouring of public in attendance who wished to speak at those meetings—with not all of them allowed enough time for that privilege—Cook County Board of Commissioner Chair Heidi Doo-Kirk asked fellow commissioners for suggestions on possibly changing the county’s policy on its public comment period policy.
Doo-Kirk noted that ISD 166, the City of Grand Marais and the hospital board all have different policies, and she wondered if the county needed to change its format.
At each regularly scheduled county board meeting the board offers some time for people to speak, but the board isn’t allowed to comment back to the speaker.
Doo-Kirk said some people expressed frustration that no one on the board responds to their concerns. She also said the board didn’t have a policy that covered special meetings that would allow the public a chance to speak.
This recently came up during the debate about Indigenous Peoples’ Day. While Doo-Kirk opened up 15 minutes for the public to talk, not everyone who wanted to speak got the chance, and others expressed frustration that the two-minute time allotted wasn’t long enough.
Commissioner Jan Sivertson said she was in favor of allowing a public comment period at all meetings to avoid confusion. She said that at some meetings where the public wasn’t allowed to speak it had created frustration for some people.
“We need to create a structure that we are comfortable with that allows the public to talk and builds integrity into the process,” said Commissioner Garry Gamble.
The current county guideline calls for up to 30 minutes of public comment and allows up to 5 minutes per person to speak, Gamble said.
Doo-Kirk asked County Administrator Jeff Cadwell what his experience had been with previous boards concerning this topic. Cadwell replied no other board had allowed the public to comment at special meetings because, “The agenda had already been set.”
Doo-Kirk asked Cadwell and Cook County Attorney Molly Hicken to come up with a policy and present it to the board at a future meeting. Cadwell said he would ask other county administrators he meets with what their policies were for public comment and see if there was something that might apply to Cook County. No timetable was set for Cadwell and Hicken to bring a new policy back to the board.
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