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Councilmember Backous stated some issues may take ten minutes so he does not want to limit <br />time given to an Open Forum speaker. He stated• he does support the suggested process and <br />asked how it would be implemented and audience members notified. Councilmember Backous <br />noted there is a sign -in sheet that could contain some of this information. He stated the <br />comments being made during Citizen Input should be relevant to City Council business so it <br />does not become a weekly forum for someone to have a television audience. In addition, if <br />called out of order, the speaker must know and agree to step down. <br />Councilmember Kuzma stated he appreciates those comments but thinks the Council should have <br />the ability to limit speech if the speaker is being repetitive so the meeting can move along. <br />Because of that, he supports a tool that allows the Council to close the discussion. <br />Councilmember Kuzma noted there is not a Police presence at other Commission/Board <br />meetings. <br />Police Chief Way suggested that rather than having an officer in attendance, the Chair call a <br />recess, and then call the officer so the officer can enter the meeting to address the need. <br />Councilmember Tossey stated he thinks it is important to not have an arbitrary time limit on <br />Citizen Input speakers but agreed it is good to limit redundancy and eliminate personal attacks. <br />He stated the Continuum of Action relies on the presence of a strong chair that is educated in <br />how to be effective in directing the meeting. <br />Mayor Strommen recalled that at a previous meeting, public comment time was limited during <br />the gun range issue because there were many audience members to be heard and comments had <br />become repetitive. <br />Councilmember Tossey stated this process will provide protection to all. <br />Mayor Strommen stated the issue is more related to meetings with large agendas, large <br />audiences, repetitive comments, and/or personnel attacks. <br />Councilmember Backous agreed that time limits should be set in those situations. <br />Councilmember Johns supported having a plan of action and taking it off camera. <br />Police Chief Way stated he was addressing Citizen Input that is held at the beginning of the <br />meeting because if warranted, the issue raised can be moved to a future agenda, and allows the <br />Council/Commission/Board to get on with its work. He stated at School Board meetings, there is <br />a limit placed on the length that one person can speak. <br />Mayor Strommen stated most people have respected the time limit with Citizen Input. <br />Councilmember Backous agreed and recalled that during the gun range consideration, Mayor <br />Strommen had asked the audience members to not be repetitive and welcomed them to speak if <br />they had a new topic to raise. <br />City Council Work Session / September 2, 2014 <br />Page 6 of 9 <br />