By Megan Kelley
Staff Writer
LAKE ORION — During their meeting on Dec. 12, Lake Orion Village Council President Jerry Narsh took time to read the council’s public participation rules and notify council meeting attendees that the rules will be enforced.
In the past, the council has had numerous issues with public participation; allowing residents to ask questions and receive answers from both the council, village staff and presenters, talk for extended periods of time and even mount verbal attacks on members of the council or others in attendance.
“The public comment period, it’s an opportunity for the public to address the council with comments or questions or concerns. Council does not respond during public comment but will respond as appropriate during the council comment period,” Narsh said.
As most boards and councils in the area do, the village council follows Robert’s Rules of Order, a manual of parliamentary procedure. Robert’s Rules include rules that boards should follow in order to run an effective meeting.
Included are rules for public comment which state that anyone can speak about anything and that the board can question them but that no other action or discussion is allowed.
Along with this, boards and councils are permitted to add additional rules, including time limits.
During his second meeting as village council president, Narsh read the council’s public participation rules ahead of public comment, a noticeable difference from previous meetings.
“Our goal is that everyone who has a question, that they get the answer to that question so I would ask that anybody who fills out a card or has a question please make sure that we either get your contact information or the clerk is afforded that because the best person to answer most of these questions is going to be staff, not us,” Narsh said
Narsh also read off a few rules including that comments should be five minutes or less and should be directed to the chair.
In board member comments, Councilmember Michael Lamb made a point to recognize Narsh’s efforts to better follow procedure and protocol.
Lake Orion Village Council adds public participation rules during meetings added by mmkelley on
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But what was council president Narsh reading from? After the previous meeting where councilmember Lamb mentioned the council Rules of Procedure, I requested and received a copy from both the Clerk and Lamb. While there is a time limit of 5 minutes in that document, there is nothing about the council not responding or responding at a later time. That document is also not readily available and must be requested, so how does anyone know what the rules and procedures are?
There is a provision in those rules that a comment by the public may be considered as an addition to the agenda, but I have yet to see that happen.
The village attorney also pointed out at this meeting that the Council Rules of Procedure conflict with Robert’s Rules of Order even though Robert’s is specified as the requirement. Then we have Michigan Open Meetings Act, and good public policy in general, which also is not always in agreement with Robert’s. The Rules of Procedure also state that the Village Attorney shall be the parliamentarian, but the attorney has made comments in the past about procedure that were incorrect.
It does appear that the new council may be trying to act better and with more respect for the public, but the council president stating undocumented rules during a meeting, without council action or approval, is not the correct or proper way to do it. I am troubled that the rest of the council sits silently while this happens as they all have an equal vote and responsibility to the public, not to the council president and administration.