Over the past week, Paul and I have covered seven public governmental meetings, some of which are reflected within these pages. Seven. (If we seem a bit glassy eyed, that may be why.)
The importance of being a watchdog as a community journalist cannot be overstated especially as some towns and counties have become news deserts due to a decline in newspapers.
That being said it’s also extremely important for citizens to serve as their own watchdogs for local government and to be educated.
Here are some helpful hints when attending governmental board meetings such as city council, school board, county commissioners court or municipal water district boards.
All meetings are open to the public (entities may adjourn into closed (executive) session but any action they take has to be done in open session).
Typically,anentity’sagenda will be posted online or somewhere public (think doors of city hall) 72 hours prior to the meeting. If you can’t find it simply call and ask. Most entities are pretty friendly when asked.
Most boards and commissions will give participants three minutes to speak in public comments. You must give your name and address for the record to speak. These can be about items on the agenda or about non-agenda items. The board members (per state law) cannot respond back to comments, unless they are about items on the agenda or it’s a public hearing.
Most meetings follow Robert’s Rules of Order to make meetings flow more easily which means you must be acknowledged to speak on the floor of that meeting. Some entities are more strict about this than others.
We hope this helps and aids citizens that attend meetings.
— Wyndi Veigel-Gaudette is the Content Editor for The Dublin Citizen and can be reached via email at composing@ dublincitizen. com.