At the county board’s annual organizational meeting on January 4, 2011, commissioners discussed a suggestion that they change their modus operandi by accepting public input during a designated time each meeting instead of throughout the entire meeting. At their next meeting on January 11, they continued the discussion.
“I feel public input is critical, and we have to include public input in all our meetings,” Commissioner Jim Johnson said. Input should be respectful, he said, and the board should always make sure that people who speak identify themselves. He also suggested that everyone be given an opportunity to speak once before anyone speaks a second time and pointed out that the chair could use the gavel and call for order if a discussion started getting “out of hand.”
If they only allow the public to speak during a designated public comment period, Commissioner Jan Hall said, there could be no back-and-forth discussion when items come up on the agenda.
Attorney Scannell indicated he had no problem with parties affected by an issue speaking up when the board discussed the issue. He said he was opposed to allowing what would amount to a second public hearing after a public hearing had already been held. An example of this would be when people try to sway the county board after the Planning Commission has already held a public hearing and made a recommendation to the board.
Commissioner Sue Hakes expressed a concern that this discussion might lead people to fear that the board was trying to limit public input. She said she wanted instead to guarantee a time when the public could comment on any issue, even if it wasn’t on the county board’s agenda. It’s important for the public to feel they can address all commissioners at one time in a safe way, she said. This addition to the agenda would not replace anything they’re doing now, she said, and it would help people feel the board is approachable. When she was mayor of Grand Marais, she said, the city council had a public comment period of up to half an hour, although that much time was never needed.
Allowing people to address issues as they come up on the agenda has never been a problem, Commissioner Fritz Sobanja said. He wouldn’t want a meeting to get backed up because of a comment period, he said.
Commissioner Hall said she has heard from people who have not felt acknowledged in meetings. She said she wants people to feel that commissioners have been fair.
If they do add a public comment period, Commissioner Johnson said, it would only be to augment public input, not stifle it.
They would need to make sure people understood that they could also comment on issues when they came up on the agenda later in the meeting, Hall added.
Keeping discussions flowing smoothly is up to the board chair, Sobanja said, adding that he would want to make sure the board didn’t squelch public comments.
Commissioner Bruce Martinson made a motion, seconded by Commissioner Hakes, to designate a time for public input at the beginning of each meeting for a trial period of six months, allowing up to five minutes per speaker with a maximum of 30 minutes for all comments.
Board Secretary Janet Simonen said she would schedule 10 minutes near the beginning of each meeting – from 8:35 to 8:45 – for public comments. The time could be expanded as needed, and if it wasn’t needed, other agenda items could be addressed, such as approval of claims presented by Auditor-Treasurer Braidy Powers.
At city council meetings, Commissioner Hakes said, if someone spoke up during the public comment period about an item on the agenda, he or she would be informed that another opportunity to speak would be available when that item was discussed later.
Commissioner Sobanja said he would vote against the motion. He said he had attended city council meetings at which the mayor had not acknowledged him.
“We’re always going to take public input on issues that we’re discussing at the time,” Commissioner Johnson said. This addition to the agenda would simply be adding an opportunity to other opportunities during the meeting.
The motion passed with a vote of four ayes, with Commissioner Sobanja abstaining. When asked why he was abstaining, he said, “I think it’s a moot question.”
Light pollution
As he has at several other county board meetings, Commissioner Sobanja brought up concerns over compact fluorescent lights (CFLS) in the commissioners’ room. Research is being conducted on potential negative health effects from this type of light.
The ceiling immediately in front of the commissioner seats contains nine CFL canister lights in a semi-circle. Sobanja said he had investigated the cost of replacing these fixtures and estimated it to be as much as $4,000. He suggested keeping them turned off instead and investing in small gooseneck desk lamps for each commissioner seat.
Sobanja said he realized that changing the lighting would require spending public money to keep him relaxed. “[The presence of CFLs] does hype me up,” he said. “It agitates me.”
Sobanja said Maintenance Director Brian Silence is replacing some light fixtures in the Public Health and Human Services Department because certain lights are bothering some employees.
The board discussed the possibility that some people might want the overhead fixtures to remain available rather than being removed entirely.
Several of the canister lights on Sobanja’s side of the room had been unscrewed. Commissioner Martinson said he had unscrewed a couple of them to help make things easier on Sobanja.
The board took no action on this matter.
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