VIERA, Fla. – New rules being proposed by Brevard County would push a segment of public commenting to the end of county commission meetings and cut the public video broadcast before speakers took to the podium, according to News 6 partner Florida Today.
The changes, which could be approved at Tuesday’s meeting, raised concerns among regular speakers and a First Amendment lawyer who said they ran afoul of the spirit of an open democracy. The changes were placed on Tuesday’s agenda by the county attorney’s office. County spokesman Don Walker said comment on individual agenda items would continue to take place throughout the meeting and the move is designed to put less relevant feedback, often on issues not being discussed at the meeting, toward the end. Walker cited a recent commenter who used his three minutes of speaking time to implore the County Commission to take action on what he claimed was NASA faking its space missions, including the moon landing, as an example of what would be impacted by the change. That end-of-meeting public comment period would no longer be broadcast or recorded on the county’s website or YouTube page.”A lot of our public comments can be on things that are not necessarily relevant to the meeting,” Walker said. “Those comments would still be a part of the meeting minutes. That’s handled by the clerk.”
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Sandra Sullivan, a frequent attendee at commission meetings who previously ran for the District 4 seat, said the change was akin to a proposal made by the Brevard County school board two years ago that prompted public outcry. Board members voted to reverse course earlier this year.
“People in the county are not going to know about how the other members of the public feel about issues that may not be on the agenda,” Sullivan said. She added that public access and transparency is eroded a little bit at a time rather than all at once, making it more insidious and difficult to spot.
“Those watching from home cannot see what’s important to the people,” Sullivan said. “That’s why it’s so egregious... we’ve already been down this path with the school board.”
Nathan Slusher, a regular at public meetings who is also running for County Commission in North Brevard’s District 1 as a Libertarian, described the policy change as “crazy” and a “massive transparency problem.”
“The part that gets me is turning the video recording off before the public has a chance to speak. I think the public has the right to hear what other members of the public have to say and what their issues are,” Slusher added.
“Once in a while you have people show up to talk about issues that may not be on the agenda, important topics, like manatees, speed bumps in their neighborhood or zoning,” Slusher said. “I think public comments are one of the most important parts of the meeting. There’s no purpose in turning the video camera off. The only purpose that exists would be to make sure the public doesn’t hear their fellow citizens,” he added.
Ed Birk, general counsel for the Florida First Amendment Foundation, said the change “stinks” as a matter of public policy.
“It has a feel to it as though they’re discounting the importance of what people have to say on general issues,” Birk said, adding that moving public comments to the very end could also have a chilling effect.
“Those meetings are exhausting, people are tired, and the effect probably will be people won’t wait around all meeting to have their few minutes of say. It may have the effect of discouraging public participation, which is contrary to the form of government we have.” Removing the video of those public comment is also concerning, he said, adding that online video has become a “primary source of communication for regular people. It will hinder communication to the public about what citizens are interested in.”