Council seeks a post-Pollard way to manage input

Tim Leavitt is no Royce Pollard.

The city’s new mayor has taken a number of steps to differentiate himself from his longtime predecessor, perhaps no more obviously than in the way he handles public comment.

Pollard was legendary for running his council meetings on a tight schedule: He strictly enforced a three-minute time limit by tilting a small hourglass at the start of each speech at the podium, and concluding it with a gruff “And your point is?” when the sands ran out but the words did not.

Since taking the reins in January, by comparison, Leavitt has mostly been the symbol of stoic patience, often letting speakers run upwards of five minutes each.

“Tim is so reluctant to repeat Royce Pollard, setting that hourglass — it just antagonizes people,” Councilor Larry Smith said. “You’ll see him look down at his watch or at the wall, he’s timing it that way.”

It’s an approach that’s drawn cheers from regular speakers at meetings and the concern of several council members, as council meetings run longer and longer as a result.

“Royce sometimes cut people off a little short, and we need to be more liberal with that,” Councilor Pat Campbell said. “But what’s happened is, certain people are taking extreme advantage,” of Leavitt’s leniency.

“We can’t be running these things to 11:30 p.m. The first time it happened, my wife called the police. She didn’t know where I was,” Campbell said.

It may sound like a minor thing, but the council typically has five to 10 people who attend and comment at every public meeting — and a few extra minutes for each speaker adds up quickly.

And those people, council members say, are talking about the same topics (see: Columbia River Crossing and light rail).

As a result, Leavitt has proposed that those coming to talk about ongoing community issues wait until the “Old Business” part of the agenda — at the end of the meeting.

“We’ve got to be respectful of everybody’s time,” Leavitt said Friday. “And that includes being able to conduct city business in an effective manner along with affording citizens the opportunity to speak to the city council.”

Those with new business will still speak at the beginning, with the mayor deciding when a speaker will address the council.

Councilor Jeanne Harris said she supports the move.

“I think that’s an interesting idea, and I’ve agreed to try it,” she said. “We do have issues that are addressed almost at every single meeting.”

But the agenda change, likely to start at the council’s April 19 meeting, has drawn the quick ire from those known to share their opinions.

“They don’t want the heat, and they’re just trying to muzzle us a little bit,” said Larry Patella, a Vancouver retiree and government critic. “If they go to that, I think that would be their goal or objective.”

Leavitt said there’s “no basis” in Patella’s charge.

“There’s been absolutely no effort to muzzle anybody,” he said.

He said the council is discussing allowing public comment at the start of every Monday meeting instead of just twice a month, doubling the amount of available time to speak to the council.

He also noted that his second town hall forum, set for April 21, will be the second one in four months.

Smith said he bets more people will appreciate the change of order, adding he’s heard from people who say they get intimidated by some speakers or don’t come because they know they may have to wait for hours.

“I think people would appreciate that, and there will certainly be a better turnout for public hearing items,” Smith said.

At least one councilor, Jeanne Stewart, is against the proposed change to public comment.

“It would be a mistake for a mayor to decide, on an individual basis, who gets to talk and when,” Stewart wrote in an e-mail to Leavitt.

Harris, however, referred to Monday’s council meeting, when, in addition to the regulars, several dozen people came to speak on the Vancouver Police Officers’ Guild’s “no confidence” vote against the police chief, keeping several Vancouver School District Officials at City Hall until after 11 p.m.

“It’s not fair to staff; they have families and need to get home, and have to come in at 8 o’clock the next morning,” Harris said.

One thing that all the council seems interested in is reinstating some sort of time limit for speakers.

“We have people who will just go on and on, and they’ll do that repeatedly week after week,” Campbell said.

Leavitt said he’s thinking about it.

“Folks are generally respectful, and can tell by my body language is saying, ‘It’s time to wrap things up,’” the mayor said. “I’ve tried to be real lenient about that, and I’ll continue as long as they’re respectful.”

Andrea Damewood: 360-735-4542 or andrea.damewood@columbian.com.