The Iowa Council’s meeting agenda always includes a period for public comment on any of the items on the meeting agenda.  People are asked to keep comments to 3 minutes but it’s up to the discretion of the chair—sometimes members want to ask questions of the speaker.  The Chair does limit discussion to questions for clarity and not a discussion.

Our current public comment policy for Council meetings does not have a time limit. We had a public comment letter at our last meeting that was 7 pages long.  With a motion from a member, we stopped at 20 minutes after 4 pages.  We are looking at revising our policy to place a time limit. Most state agencies and our legislature have a 3 minute time limit. When we train Partners and YLF folks on public comment, we use the 3 minute time limit. We do have some concern over 3 minutes for individuals who may have speech difficulties.  Wondering what folks do in terms of public comment and do you have reasonable accommodation in your policy or do you just play it by ear at the actual meetings. We are trying to be fair to everyone, not have our meeting filibustered but ensure that we get input.  Thanks! H

Heidi Lawyer

Executive Director

Virginia Board for People with Disabilities (VBPD)

1100 Bank Street, 7th Floor, Richmond, VA  23219

804-786-9369

800-846-4464

www.VaBoard.org