Public Comment at Scarsdale Village Hall Should Be Unrestricted

Last night, I watched a portion of the School Board meeting as it was broadcast live. I focused on the First Session of Three Sessions of Public Comment that the School Board held last night – a night with a very packed public agenda, following which the Board entered into Executive Session. Can you believe it? – the School Board provided 3 separate public comment sessions in one meeting!

The meeting was very crowded with residents because the controversial Butler Field lights project was being discussed.

This year, the School Board has eliminated its 3-minute limit per speaker for the public comment session. I used to criticize the School Board many times over the years for that unnecessary limitation on our residents’ rights to speak at public board meetings. President Silberfein and his Board took the wise and long overdue step this year to get rid of the time limit, and I applaud them for adopting this truly “best practice” in good government.

A large number of students and residents spoke – probably 10-15 speakers in all -- during that First Public Comment Session last night – both proponents and opponents of the lights. They all spoke earnestly from the heart, and all of their comments were important.
No one interrupted them. No ridiculous 1-minute warning buzzers went off. No final alarms blared! Yet, no one droned on and on or abused their privilege of speaking at the mic. When all who wanted to speak had apparently done so, Scott encouraged anyone else who wanted to speak to come forward. There was no sense of annoyance or reluctance to continue the public comment session. The School Board has adapted. They are learning the importance of community engagement. That’s how democracy should work in this Village.

Late last week, I read in the Miami Herald a very disturbing article about a man in Bradenton, Florida who came to City Hall to speak to the City Council about a very important matter during the public comment session of the City Council meeting. The article contained a link to an even more upsetting video. Like in Scarsdale, in Bradenton, the City Council meetings are videotaped for broadcast. In the video, you could see the City Council Chamber. It looked like Rutherford Hall. And it was similarly empty – just a very few residents were in attendance along with the members of the City Council and some staff.

Bradenton has a three minute per speaker rule for the public comment session. Bradenton, I guess, follows the “best practices” handbook that Mayor Marc has found in his research. The speaker, Mr. Jackson, is the President of the NAACP Chapter for Manatee County, Florida. He lives in Bradenton, and he was complaining to the City Council that the Bradenton Police Department was targeting him and his family for unnecessary surveillance.

Mr. Jackson was perhaps a minute or two from concluding his remarks when his 3 minutes ran out. The Mayor told him his time was up. Just like you, Mayor, have done with me. Mr. Jackson responded that he needed to finish – his remarks were important. And they were very important – to him. He said he was scared to leave his fifteen-year-old daughter alone in his house. He was scared for his family. Mr. Jackson’s remarks should have been very important to the City Council, especially given the position the speaker held in the community.

Rather than letting Mr. Jackson finish, the Mayor continued to interrupt Mr. Jackson, telling him his time was up and he needed to stop immediately. Mr. Jackson reiterated that he was going to finish, even if he was going to be arrested. Well, the Bradenton Police Department was only too happy to oblige. They came in and dragged the man kicking and yelling out of the City Council Chamber. The police forcibly hand-cuffed and arrested him and hauled him off to jail simply because he wouldn’t abide by the City Council’s arbitrary 3-minute rule for public comment.

I asked you all in my email – Is that to be what Scarsdale residents have to look forward to Village Board meetings in Scarsdale going forward?

Mr. Jackson intends to sue the City of Bradenton for violating his First Amendment rights. I think he has an excellent case.

I already have one major federal lawsuit pending against the Village of Scarsdale and the Police Department for violating my and other Village residents’ First Amendment rights. I’m not looking to make a second career out of this, but you really need to examine your policies and why you are doing this.

You say that you’ve researched “best practices” for Public Comment and that it is recommended that public comment be limited to between 3 and 5 minutes per speaker. But who is making that recommendation? It’s organizations representing municipal government who hate public comment, who hate to be criticized by voters, who want to control the agenda and spin things their way. Is that how you want this administration to be seen?

“Best practices” must be defined situationally. What’s “best practices” for public comment when there are 2 or 3 people in the audience who want to speak and there are a handful of residents in the audience is very different from when Rutherford Hall is standing room only and fifty residents or 100 residents want to have their voices heard – like when they were demanding the Mayor and Trustees do something after JF Ryan wreaked havoc with the 2016 revaluation. Flexibility and adaptability are the key – not a rigid, ridiculous rule that makes no sense.

The public comment session is the only time a resident can address the full Board of Trustees, when it is meeting legally as a Board, and when the Village Manager, Village Attorney, and other senior village staff are present, as well as members of the public and press. The meeting is televised, and residents do watch – especially the public comment session. There’s simply no substitute for the public comment session as a platform for a resident to disseminate her views to the public. You should respect that and follow the School Board’s lead. Why don’t you get rid of the 5 minute per speaker time limit during the public comment session? At the very least, you should adopt a flexible rule, depending upon the number of speakers present and the situation presented.

Thank you.

Note: These remarks were delivered this evening, Tuesday, May 14, before the Board of Trustees by Robert Berg of Tisdale Road.