Public Comment | P.A.G.E.

Elimination and Restoration of Public Comment in City Council Meeting Agenda

The Pocatello mayor claimed only a few cities had public comments included in their city council agendas. The reality below tells another story.

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TOWN HALLS NOT A REPLACEMENT FOR PUBLIC COMMENT !

POCATELLO TOWN HALL: Tuesday, 03/28/23 @ 6:30 p.m. in Council Chambers

POCATELLO TOWN HALL SPEAKERS: Sign-up sheet available @ 6:00 p.m. outside Council Chambers. All speakers must sign-up in advance of the meeting starting.

(Speakers limited to 2 minutes each)

TOPICS: Marshall Public Library (approx. 45 minutes) + “Other” City topics (approx. 15 minutes)

P.A.G.E. OPINION:

While we appreciate council's efforts to schedule a Town Hall, and hope Town Halls become a regular practice, we maintain that Town Halls are NOT A REPLACEMENT for the public comment period held during city council meetings twice per month. Yes, Town Halls allow for more dialogue, but they are infrequent and have serious limitations.

1. Quorum not required - attendance by full Council is not assured so very few council member may be present

2. Infrequency - public may wait months to have concerns heard “transparently” in a public forum vs. twice per month at regular

council meetings.

3. Limited speaker time – larger audiences at infrequent Town Halls significantly limits speaker time, limiting the public's ability to convey concerns clearly.

4. No “live-streaming” of the 03/28/23 event - Why not? The City states they will record and release the next day per their "civic alert" -- This creates distrust. Do they want to have the opportunity to edit the recording?

Since the Jan 6, 2023 City Council meeting, local community members no longer had the opportunity to make public comments at the end of Pocatello City Council meetings.

Pocatello Mayor Brian Blad removed the “Items from the Audience” agenda item from all future City Council meetings. No longer was there an agenda item that allots a maximum of 15 minutes with no more than three minutes per speaker to provide the public with the opportunity to address the City Council on any item not included on that meeting’s agenda.

However, at a special City Council meeting on October 16, 2023, Mayor Brian Blad restored the public comment agenda item to be included in future Pocatello City Council meeting agendas.

In this video clip, Mayor Blad tells the audience "Everybody else is for the library" (Speakers signed up to give comments on the library issue) and he won't be stopping for the (last) 15 minutes of "everything else".

Fact: 3 of the remaining 27 individuals signed up to speak, indicated on the sign-in sheet, their topics were "NON-LIBRARY"or OTHER issues - including two P.A.G.E. speakers.

It would have been reasonable to have made this Town Hall only about the Library issue, but that is not what was communicated in advance. It would have also been reasonable to have allowed speakers signed up to speak about the Library to have been given priority and rescheduled another TownHall in the near future for "other issues".

Elimination and Restoration of Public Comment in City Council Meeting Agenda

In this video clip, Mayor Blad tells the audience "Everybody else is for the library" (Speakers signed up to give comments on the library issue) and he won't be stopping for the (last) 15 minutes of "everything else".

Fact: 3 of the remaining 27 individuals signed up to speak, indicated on the sign-in sheet, their topics were "NON-LIBRARY"or OTHER issues - including two P.A.G.E. speakers.

Instead, the Mayor once again fabricated an excuse for the change.

Back to City of Pocatello

Elimination and Restoration of Public Comment in City Council Meeting Agenda

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In this video clip, Mayor Blad tells the audience "Everybody else is for the library" (Speakers signed up to give comments on the library issue) and he won't be stopping for the (last) 15 minutes of "everything else".

Fact: 3 of the remaining 27 individuals signed up to speak, indicated on the sign-in sheet, their topics were "NON-LIBRARY"or OTHER issues - including two P.A.G.E. speakers.

Instead, the Mayor once again fabricated an excuse for the change.

Back to City of Pocatello