Mayor Marlin Proposes Ordinance to Restrict Public Comments

At the September 21^st, 2020 Urbana City Council Committee of the Whole meeting, Mayor Diane Marlin put forward an ordinance amending Urbana City Code, Chapter 2, Section 2-4 (Public Comment During Public Meetings).

Marlin’s proposed ordinance came following her new rules for public input during the September 14^th, 2020 Urbana City Council meeting. During that meeting, Marlin disallowed public commentary about elected officials, city staff, members of boards and commissions, and even “negative comments”.

Over the past 6 months, residents have voiced their criticism regarding police misconduct and actions of City staff. According to Marlin, these criticisms were creating a hostile environment and the time spent on public input made it difficult to complete City business (article here).

Marlin’s ordinance, which seeks to restrict public comment, can be viewed in full here:

Ordinance No. 2020-09-049: An Ordinance Amending Urbana City Code, Chapter 2, Section 2-4

Among the changes put forth by Marlin:

• Reduction of public comment to three minutes (from five minutes) per person, and the total public comment duration to one hour (from two hours).

• Allowing public comment time to be shortened by a 2/3 vote of Council members.

• To extend public comment time, a 2/3 vote by Council members would be needed (as is, consent of a majority vote is needed).

• Public comments must be addressed to the public body as a whole and not to individual members, city staff, or other members of the public.

• Authority is given to Mayor or presiding officer to warn and mute a speaker that uses abusive, personal, threatening, or defamatory language.

• Priority will be given to persons who wish to comment on an agenda item upon which a vote will be taken.

Several of these changes seek to regulate content of public speech, making the proposed rules a violation of the Open Meetings Act. City Attorney James Simon responded to questions and concerns of Council members, and defended the City’s legal authority to enact these restrictions to public speech.

All Council members voted to keep Ordinance No. 2020-09-049 in committee for further discussion.

The discussion of Marlin’s proposed changes during the September 21st, 2020 Urbana City Council meeting can be seen here: