The Salina City Commission will discuss possible changes to its public participation rules during its Monday, Sept. 28 meeting, including whether residents should be required to register before speaking and whether the City should place an overall time limit on Citizen Forum.

No policy change is scheduled for approval Monday. City staff is asking commissioners for direction. Any changes would be drafted and returned to the Commission for consideration by resolution at a future meeting.

The review follows discussion at the Sept. 14 City Commission meeting, when Commissioner Gary Norris raised concerns about conduct at recent meetings and asked staff to compare Salina's rules with those used by other communities. Norris also suggested pausing public comments while the rules were reviewed. Commissioners Trent Davis, Greg Lenkiewicz and Doug Rempp also discussed civility and public participation, and Mayor Mike Hoppock agreed that reviewing the existing policy was appropriate.

What Salina does now

According to the City's presentation, Salina currently allows public participation on agenda items with a typical three-minute limit per speaker, no advance-registration requirement and no overall time limit.

Citizen Forum also allows Salina residents to speak about issues that are not on the meeting agenda. The existing policy says speakers generally receive three minutes, although the mayor may adjust the time based on the number of people wishing to speak.

Salina's existing rules already prohibit several forms of conduct in the meeting room, including displaying signs or banners, applauding or cheering, booing or jeering, making distracting gestures and distributing written materials to those attending. A person who continues prohibited conduct after being warned may be asked to leave.

What other cities do

City staff reviewed participation policies from other Kansas cities and governmental bodies.

The presentation says many communities require residents to register in advance before speaking. Examples listed by the City include Manhattan, Independence, Olathe, Leavenworth, Wichita, Overland Park, Leawood and Shawnee.

The City also identified several communities that place a 30-minute overall limit on their public forum, including Manhattan, Olathe, Wichita, Overland Park, Leawood and Garden City. Shawnee uses the limit when necessary, while Dodge City was listed as allowing 15 minutes per topic.

Staff also told commissioners that agenda items that do not legally require a public hearing frequently do not include public comment in other cities.

Under the Kansas Open Meetings Act, the public generally has the right to attend and observe meetings, but the law itself does not generally require a governing body to allow public comment unless another law requires a hearing. The Kansas Attorney General describes whether to allow public speaking in other circumstances as a policy decision of the governing body. 

What happens Monday

Commissioners can direct staff to prepare specific changes or leave the existing policy unchanged.

The staff report does not recommend a specific new set of restrictions. Instead, commissioners are being asked to decide what, if anything, they want changed.

Any revised policy would have to return to the City Commission for approval at a future meeting.

The discussion is scheduled as Item 5.3 of the regular City Commission meeting beginning at 4 p.m. Monday at the City-County Building.

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