abhikavi OP t1_jebte23 wrote on March 30, 2023 at 9:34 PM

Reply to comment by MOGicantbewitty in Ramifications of the "Right to be Rude" in Massachusetts by abhikavi

My Board of Health is one of the boards considering the removal of Citizen Time. It sounded from their meeting like they'd reviewed this with legal already; however, now that I go and look at MA regulations for boards of health, I see there are a lot of references to public comments, and it certainly sounds like they're required for several specific things. It seems like it'd get very complicated trying to not provide this at each meeting, and still provide it where required.

I guess I'm not sure though; does "public comment" legally mean "time to speak in public"? Would letters etc count, or is this requiring an opportunity at an open forum?

I think I'll start with outlining my concerns and sending them to my Board of Health members. I'd like to give them the opportunity to respond. (I really do think they are generally pretty reasonable folks who are just panicking right now.) I agree though that at a state level, it would be really great to have this codified into law.... I had assumed it was!

The Board of Health also talked about how other boards would be yanking their Citizen's Time in response, but they didn't say which boards, and the BOH and Ways and Means are the only ones that've had meetings since the ruling (W&M didn't bring it up). My point being; it sounds like this could be a big problem across town, but I don't know for sure if it is yet.

MOGicantbewitty t1_jebu45y wrote on March 30, 2023 at 9:39 PM

The Board of Health is not required to allow a general public commen at the end of their agenda. But specific public hearings for septic permits, and other regulatory things, do require the ability to speak publicly at the public hearing. So, you are allowed to speak under state regulation about your neighbors variance request to build their leachfield closer than allowed by your town bylaw to a wetland, but you are not allowed to speak to a general concern about actions the Board of Health should take at the end of a meeting or whenever, unless the chair decides to recognize you.

I really think the state should make it required to allow some form of public comment with a reasonable time limits and reasonable topic limits at every public meeting. And I’m a public official… Take up an extra 30 minutes of my time in a meeting, please! If that means we have active invested residents, who care about what’s happening in the municipality, fuck yeah. Bring it on!