Staff Writer
The Jacksonville City Council has had some hotly debated issues on its agenda recently and some members are concerned with some of the language that has been used during the public comment section.
Council members Michael Corrigan, Daniel Davis and Denise Lee met Monday to discuss Council decorum because of language used recently during the public comment section of Council meetings.
“Recently, there has been some very offensive, racist language, whether it’s been white or black, that has prompted us to take a step back and take a look at it,” said Davis, describing what he has heard during recent meetings.
“That’s what has set off this discussion,” said Davis.
The three Council members made it clear that they didn’t want to restrict anyone’s right to speak. Instead, they wanted to ensure that the public comment section was used to address issues that could create change in City government and not issues out of Council control.
“Issues that are not germane to the legislative process should not be brought before Council,” said Lee. “I pushed for more time for people to speak to Council. I don’t want to restrict people’s right to speak. It’s just those who cause ill will in the community that we are talking about here today.”
The three Council members agreed to develop questions for a survey that they would present to Council to find out the consensus about handling public comment that may be deemed offensive.
Section 10.101 of the City’s Ordinance Code contains “Rules of the Council of the City of Jacksonville,” which contains “Rule 4.505 - Disruption of a Meeting.”
“Any person, not a Council Member, making personal, impertinent or slanderous remarks or who shall become boisterous while the Council is in session, shall forthwith be barred from further audience before the Council by the presiding officer in his/her discretion,” it states.
“No demonstrations of approval or disapproval from the audience shall be permitted, and if such demonstrations are made, the audience shall be cleared from the Council Chambers. The presiding officer shall call upon the Sergeant-At-Arms to enforce directions given by the presiding officer for any violation of this Rule,” it states.
“When it comes down to it, it’s up to the person in charge of the meeting to enforce the rule,” said Davis.
Corrigan was more in favor of procedural change that would allow the Council president to mute the public microphone if the speaker’s language was deemed inappropriate.
“I’ve said this since I was Council president, whoever is chairing the meeting should have the ability to shut off the audio projection device of the person who is making the comments. Because when you try to stop it, the speech just gets louder. It’s not stopped at all,” said Corrigan.
The three Council members agreed that some speakers request time just to get their message on television because Council meeting are broadcast on TV and the Internet.
“To think that you are going to use the City Council to embarrass people, that is offensive to me,” said Lee. “I don’t want to be pimped. But at the same time, I don’t want to change the rules to the point where we don’t allow citizens to be citizens.”
The group agreed to meet in about two weeks, discuss the questions they had developed and create the survey for Council members.
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