Bel Air Man Prompts Time Limits By County Council: Report

BEL AIR, MD — If you want to comment on something at a Harford County Council meeting, you will have to say it in three to five minutes, according to a rule that will now be enforced.

The six council members present at Tuesday night's meeting in Bel Air unanimously voted to enforce time limits during public comments. Limits are three minutes per individual and five minutes for someone representing a group.

A particularly verbose Bel Air man is said to have been the catalyst.

The Harford County Council broached the idea of enforcing time limits after John Mallamo of Bel Air delivered 51 minutes of testimony during the council's October and November meetings, according to The Aegis.

Councilman Mike Perrone cited Mallamo's lengthy remarks at a meeting last month and said time limits would "ensure that others have the opportunity to be heard as well," The Aegis reported.

Perrone reiterated his sentiment at Tuesday's meeting.

"I think that this is a necessary move for now," Perrone said Tuesday. "The trade-off is between the need to give everyone the opportunity to be heard and the need to keep meetings moving."

Hindsight would ultimately show whether the call was the right one, he said.

Council President Richard Slutzky took responsibility for what he called the "discomfort" that resulted from not enforcing the suggested rules around public comments, which he said had been on the books "for decades."

Said Slutzky on Tuesday: "This is not something that is new."

Early in his term, there were times when only three or four people wanted to comment. He let them continue for however long they needed.

"The difference is that — and I take responsibility for the discomfort in this — early in my term I was lenient to the point...that probably has turned out to be a mistake because there were those that significantly abused the timeline," Slutzky said. He began his term in 2002.

Some citizens have told the council that they did not testify because they thought they would have to wait up to 40 minutes, Slutzky said.

After the council voted 6-0 on Tuesday to amend its rules of procedure for public comments to enforce the time limits, Mallamo spoke. He said he had deemed the council "as a body to be immaterial," and its remarks "seem small and petty."

Even so, he said that he believes citizens should know "how they are being governed" regarding land use and other types of decisions, particularly when the county was not following its own policies and procedures.

"Please bring your comments to an end," Slutzky said.

Mallamo kept his comments to around 3 minutes and said: "I'll be back...Good night."

Robert Banker of Fallston, the only other citizen to testify, said he represented the "silent majority" who disagreed with the idea of restricting free speech. He asked the council to rescind its policy, alleging it infringed upon the First Amendment. Following his comments, the meeting adjourned.

Here is the amendment to the rules of procedure:

The council is not the first to suggest time limits. In Havre de Grace, those who testify at city council meetings are asked to keep their public comments from three to five minutes, which is suggested in writing when people register to speak.

Over the summer, the city of Chicago introduced time limits at its city council meetings, prompting pushback from some outspoken residents while others said that it allowed for "quality over quantity" of comments, according to the Sun-Times.

The Harford County Council requests that people register to speak. Here is what the Harford County Rules of Procedure stated before the amendment:

"The Council President may...establish a maximum time limit of 3 minutes for oral testimony by each person. The President may also establish a maximum time limit of 5 minutes for oral testimony by a spokesperson (representative) testifying for an organization...Testimony may also be submitted for the record in writing. Speakers can address almost any topic except subject matters that are currently before the Council, such as zoning cases and legislation which can not be discussed until the meeting following the final action. "

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