BOARD MEETING DATE: August 1, 2003
AGENDA NO. 15
(Continued from July 11, 2003 Board Meeting)

Amend Governing Board Meeting Procedures Regarding Receipt of Public Testimony

SYNOPSIS:

Chairman Burke has advised that Board meetings will proceed in a more orderly fashion if members of the public submit speaker cards before the meetings begin. An amendment to make the necessary changes to the Board meeting procedures is therefore proposed.

COMMITTEE:

Not applicable

RECOMMENDED ACTION:

Amend AQMD Governing Board Meeting Procedures, section (d) (2), to require that members of the public submit a Request To Speak card before the meetings begin.

Barry R. Wallerstein, D.Env.
Executive Officer

Background

The Governing Board adopted procedures for conducting Board meetings on June 10, 1994. Section (d) (2) of the Board’s meeting procedures sets out rules for members of the public wishing to address the Board on an item. This section states that:

To facilitate an orderly proceeding, the [Request To Speak] card should be filed prior to commencement of consideration of the item, and must be filed prior to the close of the public testimony regarding the item.

Under this procedure, members of the public may submit a speaker’s card up to the time public testimony closes on an item. As a result, the Board cannot determine at the start of a Board meeting how much time to allocate to each item on its calendar. So that the Board may adequately control its calendar, Chairman Burke has requested amending the policy to require speakers to file cards before the meeting begins.

Proposal

Staff proposes that the Board amend section (d) (2) of the Governing Board meeting procedures as set forth in Attachment 1.

Attachment 1
 

(d)

Receipt of Testimony.

…(2)

Time Allotted for Testimony. Each member of the public wishing to testify shall file a Request to Speak card with the Clerk of the Board. To facilitate an orderly proceeding, the card should be filed prior to commencement of consideration of the item, and must be filed prior to the close of the public testimony regarding the item. shall be filed prior to the start of the agenda item before the meeting is called to order. Each member of the public timely filing a Request to Speak card shall be afforded at least three minutes to testify unless some lesser or greater amount of time is approved by the Board. The Chair may also increase the three-minute allotment for an individual speaker if the issues addressed are complex or if the speaker represents other persons. Each member of the public requesting to testify after the start of an agenda item shall be granted one and one-half minutes to testify, unless some lesser or greater amount is approved by the Board.

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