The Harrison Township Committee introduced new rule changes to the public participation portions of their meetings at the recent business meeting on April 17.
The biggest rule change states that each speaker will have five minutes to speak over a 30-minute timeframe that happens twice at each meeting. The first occurs at the beginning of the meeting to focus on agenda items while the second occurs at the end to focus on anything else.
The committee will not respond to any of the questions until the end of the public portion so as not to interrupt each speaker’s five minutes.
“Anybody that steps up can say what they’re gonna say, ask what they’re gonna ask, we will not respond directly back and forth [as a] question-answer,” said Mayor Louis Manzo. “We will take all questions and all comments, ensuring everyone gets the time that’s allotted, and then we will go back, as committee members and I can make notes of what is said and what is asked, and then we can go back in an orderly fashion.
“From a productivity standpoint, if multiple people have said or asked the same question, we’re able to answer that succinctly and overall, as opposed to multiple times.”
This is the first time the committee has implemented specific public participation rules. It will be the policy for public comments at any and all future meetings going forward.
This applies to both people who show up in person and through Zoom. While no one took part in the first privilege of the floor, the new rules were put into practice during the second one.
Four people spoke, two in person and two through Zoom, and while things did progress in an orderly manner, there were some mishaps.
Two people on the committee forgot the newly established rules and actually responded to questions by accident initially before correcting themselves. This especially led to some confusion. The person’s questions were eventually answered at the end.
“Are we just taking his comment and moving on or what?” asked Deputy Administrator Dennis Chambers after the first speaker’s time.
Despite having a timer set to five minutes, the acting municipal clerk, who was in charge of it, did not activate the timer.
The next meeting with the new rules in place is set for May 1 at the municipal building at 7 p.m.
