Changes to City Council procedures falls short of vote Monday

A change to Port Huron City Council’s rules of procedures that would’ve lowered public comment time by one minute fell short Monday night for lack of support among council officials.

It was a proposal that garnered opposition from a few residents pointing to First Amendment concerns after remarks from the public at large earlier in the meeting had hit a range in subject matter — from a refuse collection fee to parking issues downtown — across three public hearings and the council’s regular public comment period.

Only the latter would’ve been affected by the tweak in procedures, going from four to three minutes, in addition to other changes in language addressing conduct from audience members disrupting meetings.

However, the issue never came to a council vote after a motion, supported by Councilman Jeff Pemberton, received no second from another official.

Last week, Mayor Pauline Repp said the changes had aimed to keep council meetings efficient. On Monday, a brief back-and-forth with an audience member prompted a rare, two-minute recess before council resumed business.

“I wasn’t trying to be argumentative with anyone in the audience. I am here to listen, as well. But on the same token, once I’ve given someone four minutes to talk, I think I’m entitled to talk also without being interrupted or yelled at from the audience,” Repp said toward the end of the meeting. “So, I apologize for the outburst, perhaps, or trying to get things in order. But the bottom line is we deserve the same respect up here.”

City attorney Todd Shoudy said Monday’s meeting “was not a good example of how they’re supposed to work,” initiating a rundown of statutes and standards that help government council meetings before it adjourned.

He also addressed what he called “confusion on how the First Amendment works” in limited public forums, adding the council had rightfully heard a range of comments on city issues Monday but didn't need to endure profanity or interruptions from the audience.

“When we get to the point where our meeting is disruptive and we can’t even speak in our roles as government leaders, we have an issue and we’ve got to address that,” Shoudy said. “I know the mayor has been overly generous and basically has allowed people to say their piece, and that’s fine. But I think at some point in time, we as a city have to be able to conduct a meeting in a peaceful fashion.”

What was at issue?

St. Clair County residents Kevin Lindke and Julian Ruck, both frequent public commenters, aired concerns about lowering public speaking time.

Each also referenced an instance in May 2022 when Lindke was removed from a meeting. It was a back-and-forth with Lindke over that issue that spurred Monday night’s recess.

Port Huron resident Brian Farquhar said he thought anything limiting speaking time would’ve amounted to censoring residents and been a liability for the city.

“There (are) cases that say that I can come up here. I can cuss, I can swear, I can say whatever I want, and freedom of speech protects that,” he said. “At that point in time, let’s not infringe upon basic civil rights as Americans, much less citizens of the city of Port Huron.”

Shoudy later said the council can reasonably limit time and place of public comments, among other restrictions such as conduct of speakers.

“Think about why we have that. We often have children at these meetings, or we could have children at these meetings or watching from home. That would be one reason we want to prohibit profanity,” he said. And although the city may curb comment discussion to just issues facing the city, he said they couldn’t otherwise regulate “speech based upon the content.”

Officials said changes to council procedures could only come back for a vote in a form separate from those already proposed.

There was otherwise no lengthy discussion on procedural changes themselves.

Other council members aired similar calls as Repp in their own right to speak — each agreeing they still thought hearing comment was important.

“I don’t feel any one of us should be subjected to slander, vulgarity, or any kind of name-calling,” said Councilwoman Teri Lamb. “We are all adults, and we need to be able to communicate.”

Councilwoman Anita Ashford said hearing comments was about civility.

“We want to be able to hear it clear and without all of the other drama,” she said. “You just let us know what it is. You can amplify your voice, or whatever, but it’s a two-way street.”

Contact Jackie Smith at (810) 989-6270 or jssmith@gannett.com. Follow her on Twitter @Jackie20Smith.