Public comment session at council meetings
My municipality removed the public comment section from the monthly council agenda because of the inability to meet the open meetings act requirements. Members of the public have the ability to get in the agenda by filling out a form and giving notice of the issue they want to address. One of the staff members is grumbling that this is illegal. Anyone have any existing briefing on the issue? We consulted with OML and did research prior to making the change, but the topic keeps popping up like a gopher. Would appreciate any materials anyone could share.
Sharla
Sent from my iPhone which randomly rearranges my thoughts and letters. Apologies in advance for any illogical responses.
Sharla,
The OMA, at its core, merely grants a right to the public to observe the
public body transacting business in an meeting which is open to the public.
Nothing in the OMA requires that the public body allow members of the
public to speak at their meetings. There are other statutes that might
require you to allow the public to speak - most obviously, those related to
public hearing requirements for the budget and zoning issues. But there's
nothing in the OMA that requires it, so essentially it's a this statute
requires that the governing body hold a public hearing, and the OMA applies
to governing body meetings so that public hearing would have to be held
during a meeting of the body held in compliance with the OMA.
Public comment/participation items on an agenda can be dangerous from an
OMA standpoint. The concern isn't so much what the citizen says - it's if
the governing body members begin to discuss the subject matter due to the
citizen speaking and raising the issue. Per the OMA, we must transact
business in an open meeting where notice has been given on the business we
might transact. And the AG has opined on several occasions that transacting
business isn't just the action on an item but also includes the entire
decision making process.
As for adopting a rule that allows citizens to submit a form which results
in an agenda item being placed on the agenda - there's nothing illegal
about that. If anything, if the end result is an agenda item notifying the
public of an item of business that might be discussed, you actually end up
providing some cover to the governing body members should they end up
engaging in a discussion on the subject matter (since the public would have
been notified that there could be such a discussion on that specific item
of business). To be clear, I'm not saying it's a good idea to have this
process. We elect people to Municipal governing bodies so that they may
transact the public business on our behalf. Whether it's a general public
participation or comments item, or allowing citizens to have anything
placed on the agenda so the citizen can speak on it, that short circuits
the way representative government is supposed to work, particularly during
what is effectively a legislative session. But the OMA sets the ground
rules and so long as we comply with those rules we are free to handle
business in the way each community thinks its best. Put differently, it may
not be advisable but it's not illegal.
Matt
On Wed, Jan 25, 2023 at 8:51 AM Sharla Frost cityattorney@forttowson.us
wrote:
My municipality removed the public comment section from the monthly
council agenda because of the inability to meet the open meetings act
requirements. Members of the public have the ability to get in the agenda
by filling out a form and giving notice of the issue they want to address.
One of the staff members is grumbling that this is illegal. Anyone have any
existing briefing on the issue? We consulted with OML and did research
prior to making the change, but the topic keeps popping up like a gopher.
Would appreciate any materials anyone could share.
Sharla
Sent from my iPhone which randomly rearranges my thoughts and letters.
Apologies in advance for any illogical responses.
Oama mailing list -- oama@lists.imla.org
To unsubscribe send an email to oama-leave@lists.imla.org
Very helpful. Thank you.
Sent from my iPhone which randomly rearranges my thoughts and letters. Apologies in advance for any illogical responses.
On Jan 25, 2023, at 9:51 AM, Matt Love matt.love@gmail.com wrote:
Sharla,
The OMA, at its core, merely grants a right to the public to observe the public body transacting business in an meeting which is open to the public. Nothing in the OMA requires that the public body allow members of the public to speak at their meetings. There are other statutes that might require you to allow the public to speak - most obviously, those related to public hearing requirements for the budget and zoning issues. But there's nothing in the OMA that requires it, so essentially it's a this statute requires that the governing body hold a public hearing, and the OMA applies to governing body meetings so that public hearing would have to be held during a meeting of the body held in compliance with the OMA.
Public comment/participation items on an agenda can be dangerous from an OMA standpoint. The concern isn't so much what the citizen says - it's if the governing body members begin to discuss the subject matter due to the citizen speaking and raising the issue. Per the OMA, we must transact business in an open meeting where notice has been given on the business we might transact. And the AG has opined on several occasions that transacting business isn't just the action on an item but also includes the entire decision making process.
As for adopting a rule that allows citizens to submit a form which results in an agenda item being placed on the agenda - there's nothing illegal about that. If anything, if the end result is an agenda item notifying the public of an item of business that might be discussed, you actually end up providing some cover to the governing body members should they end up engaging in a discussion on the subject matter (since the public would have been notified that there could be such a discussion on that specific item of business). To be clear, I'm not saying it's a good idea to have this process. We elect people to Municipal governing bodies so that they may transact the public business on our behalf. Whether it's a general public participation or comments item, or allowing citizens to have anything placed on the agenda so the citizen can speak on it, that short circuits the way representative government is supposed to work, particularly during what is effectively a legislative session. But the OMA sets the ground rules and so long as we comply with those rules we are free to handle business in the way each community thinks its best. Put differently, it may not be advisable but it's not illegal.
Matt
On Wed, Jan 25, 2023 at 8:51 AM Sharla Frost <cityattorney@forttowson.usmailto:cityattorney@forttowson.us> wrote:
My municipality removed the public comment section from the monthly council agenda because of the inability to meet the open meetings act requirements. Members of the public have the ability to get in the agenda by filling out a form and giving notice of the issue they want to address. One of the staff members is grumbling that this is illegal. Anyone have any existing briefing on the issue? We consulted with OML and did research prior to making the change, but the topic keeps popping up like a gopher. Would appreciate any materials anyone could share.
Sharla
Sent from my iPhone which randomly rearranges my thoughts and letters. Apologies in advance for any illogical responses.
Oama mailing list -- oama@lists.imla.orgmailto:oama@lists.imla.org
To unsubscribe send an email to oama-leave@lists.imla.orgmailto:oama-leave@lists.imla.org
The link below is to a Tip of the Month on the OAMA Website. Hope this helps as well.
https://okmunicipalattorneys.org/tip-of-the-month-1/are-public-comments-required-at-public-meetings
Jeff H Bryant
Director of Legal Services
Associate General Counsel
jbryant@omag.orgmailto:jbryant@omag.org
[OMAG Small Logo Smooth]
3650 S. Boulevard
Edmond, Oklahoma 73013
Phone: 405-657-1419
Fax: 405-657-1401
Cell: 405-830-8672
www.omag.orghttps://na01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.omag.org%2F&data=02%7C01%7Cksesock%40omag.org%7C7b0af7708d2145459d0008d5d005912d%7Cb13aadd514d84b918cf485be9d556ad7%7C1%7C0%7C636643644718063768&sdata=O5U4CEM0kJLxSbEQIcdB%2BtRnRqcj9gWhJquY26D8F1o%3D&reserved=0
From: Sharla Frost cityattorney@forttowson.us
Sent: Wednesday, January 25, 2023 10:03 AM
To: Matt Love matt.love@gmail.com
Cc: oama@lists.imla.org
Subject: [Oama] Re: Public comment session at council meetings
Very helpful. Thank you.
Sent from my iPhone which randomly rearranges my thoughts and letters. Apologies in advance for any illogical responses.
On Jan 25, 2023, at 9:51 AM, Matt Love <matt.love@gmail.commailto:matt.love@gmail.com> wrote:
Sharla,
The OMA, at its core, merely grants a right to the public to observe the public body transacting business in an meeting which is open to the public. Nothing in the OMA requires that the public body allow members of the public to speak at their meetings. There are other statutes that might require you to allow the public to speak - most obviously, those related to public hearing requirements for the budget and zoning issues. But there's nothing in the OMA that requires it, so essentially it's a this statute requires that the governing body hold a public hearing, and the OMA applies to governing body meetings so that public hearing would have to be held during a meeting of the body held in compliance with the OMA.
Public comment/participation items on an agenda can be dangerous from an OMA standpoint. The concern isn't so much what the citizen says - it's if the governing body members begin to discuss the subject matter due to the citizen speaking and raising the issue. Per the OMA, we must transact business in an open meeting where notice has been given on the business we might transact. And the AG has opined on several occasions that transacting business isn't just the action on an item but also includes the entire decision making process.
As for adopting a rule that allows citizens to submit a form which results in an agenda item being placed on the agenda - there's nothing illegal about that. If anything, if the end result is an agenda item notifying the public of an item of business that might be discussed, you actually end up providing some cover to the governing body members should they end up engaging in a discussion on the subject matter (since the public would have been notified that there could be such a discussion on that specific item of business). To be clear, I'm not saying it's a good idea to have this process. We elect people to Municipal governing bodies so that they may transact the public business on our behalf. Whether it's a general public participation or comments item, or allowing citizens to have anything placed on the agenda so the citizen can speak on it, that short circuits the way representative government is supposed to work, particularly during what is effectively a legislative session. But the OMA sets the ground rules and so long as we comply with those rules we are free to handle business in the way each community thinks its best. Put differently, it may not be advisable but it's not illegal.
Matt
On Wed, Jan 25, 2023 at 8:51 AM Sharla Frost <cityattorney@forttowson.usmailto:cityattorney@forttowson.us> wrote:
My municipality removed the public comment section from the monthly council agenda because of the inability to meet the open meetings act requirements. Members of the public have the ability to get in the agenda by filling out a form and giving notice of the issue they want to address. One of the staff members is grumbling that this is illegal. Anyone have any existing briefing on the issue? We consulted with OML and did research prior to making the change, but the topic keeps popping up like a gopher. Would appreciate any materials anyone could share.
Sharla
Sent from my iPhone which randomly rearranges my thoughts and letters. Apologies in advance for any illogical responses.
Oama mailing list -- oama@lists.imla.orgmailto:oama@lists.imla.org
To unsubscribe send an email to oama-leave@lists.imla.orgmailto:oama-leave@lists.imla.org
