Public Comment Guidelines

Opportunities to address the commission are typically scheduled the evening before a business meeting, the morning of the first day of a business meeting, public hearings, and advisory committee meetings.

Things to remember when giving public comment:

• The chair controls the meeting.
• The chair has the right to set time limits for comment and to take the floor from speakers who are dominating the body’s time.
• Only one person at a time may speak.
• Speakers should address all comments to the body, never to the audience.
• Typically, public comment is limited to 3-5 minutes per person.

Tips for giving public comment:

Decide what issues you most want to address before the meeting, and write down your main speaking points to refer to as you speak. This will ensure you don’t ramble, repeat yourself, waste your speaking time, or run out of time before making all of your points.

If you will be attending in a group, you may want to assign each person one issue or point of an issue to address. This saves time, eliminates repetition in public comment, and makes it easier for each speaker to effectively address the body.