By Rebecca Gaunt

The Kennesaw City Council will vote on changes to its public comment policy at the April 21 meeting.

The original resolution, presented by Kennesaw city clerk Lea Alvarez, underwent changes following significant feedback at the April 14 work session. Alvarez said she had modeled the proposal on surrounding municipalities, the city of Powder Springs in particular.

A suggestion that was met with no opposition was to have commenters fill out an information card in advance with contact information and the subject they were there to discuss.

Though he supported the cards for the purpose of follow up, council member Antonio Jones raised concerns about the potential violation of First Amendment rights by disallowing commenters to address specific employees or council members by name.

Council member Tracey Viars told Jones, “It could protect you… if someone came in here with allegations that weren’t true.”

He responded, “I think as public officials, that’s going to come with this job that we’re in. But I’ve seen with the ACLU…they’ve given notice to other cities for these types of situations where you’re pretty much violating people’s First Amendment rights, in my opinion, when it comes to redressing their grievances with their government.”

Mayor Derek Easterling was supportive of the change, saying that commenters shouldn’t be able to call someone out by name and it was their job to protect staff.

“I don’t want to hear that. I don’t think that’s infringing on their rights,” Easterling said.

Jones replied, “I don’t think it’s about what you want to hear, Mayor. I think it’s about the First Amendment.”

A visibly frustrated Easterling said he wasn’t going to debate him.

“I’m a big boy…we should be able to handle it,” Jones said, adding that he was concerned about putting the city at risk of a free speech lawsuit, similar to ones that have been filed around the country in response to restrictions on public comments in public meetings.

The courts have typically supported viewpoint-neutral rules such as time limits, but not rules based on content.

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Despite a 6:20 p.m. proposed cut off, Easterling said that didn’t rule out latecomers if time was still available. The cut off was amended to 6:30 during the discussion.

Viars suggested a provision to have commenters say whether they are a resident or a business owner in the city.

“We get a lot of people from the outside here who aren’t paying taxes. They can’t vote here. Why are they having a say about how we’re running our city?” she said.

It was clarified that this would not preclude non-residents from speaking.

Council member Madelyn Orochena expressed concern over the provision limiting the number of speakers when a hot-button topic draws a larger audience than usual.

Easterling asserted that they had previously voted to give more time as needed and could do that again.

“After about the first two, three, maybe four speakers, everybody after them says the same thing. It doesn’t benefit the discussion,” said council member Pat Ferris.

The posted guidelines for Monday’s vote have been revised since the work session, most significantly in the removals of the explicit on ban using names, the 6:30 cut off, and a provision that if a speaker is ruled out of order and barred by the mayor, a majority vote by the council is required for them to continue.

Revised guidelines that will be voted on:

A. Public Comment Expectations

a. Speakers will be limited to three (3) minutes per speaker for a maximum of 30 

minutes total.

b. An extension of the three-minute limit per person may be granted by a majority 

vote of the City Council. 

c. If several citizens wish to speak on the same subject, it is encouraged that one 

be chosen to speak and other[s] express their support. 

d. Public comments should concern matters that are business of the City.

e. Matters pertaining to personnel procedures or personnel grievances will not be 

heard during public comments. Such matters should be addressed to the City 

Manager or Human Resources Director.

 f. All persons speaking during public comments are encouraged to follow the rules 

of conduct for public comment, as set forth in subsection B.

B. General – Rules of Conduct for Public Comment

a. All persons, other than members of city staff, are encouraged to address the City Council in the following manner:

 i. State his/her name and address 

 Ii. Whether he/she is a Kennesaw resident or business owner

 iii. If requested by the City Council, the speaker may be required to state:

  1. Whether he/she is speaking for himself/herself or for another;

  2. If he/she represents an organization or represents a policy 

     established by an organization or governing body and whether 

     he/she is being compensated by the person(s) for whom he/she 

     speaks;

  3. Whether he/she or any member of his/her immediate family has a personal interest in the pending matter.

 b. All comments should be made to the City Council as a whole and addressed 

through the Mayor.

 c. The public comment period is not a time for questions or dialogue between a 

citizen and the Mayor other than for clarification of facts or issues as requested 

by the Mayor and City Council. It is a time to express concerns or views of the 

citizens. City staff will follow up, as appropriate, with any concerns that need to 

be addressed by the City. 

d. No person shall make impertinent, derogatory, offensive, or slanderous remarks 

while addressing the Mayor.