The Vancouver City Council on Monday approved policy changes designed to mitigate interruptions at meetings following years of frequent outbursts.
The new policies make it clear that the mayor, or sometimes the city manager, can eject people who disrupt meetings and ban them from providing verbal testimony for a period of time.
Council meetings are now designated as limited public forums, where the time, place and manner of speech can be regulated.
If speakers continue talking after their three minutes are up, they’ll have three strikes until the mayor gavels a five-minute recess. The city will issue the speaker a 90-day suspension of the right to provide verbal comment at any public city meeting.
After the recess, the mayor will warn the audience if any other speaker refuses to stop talking after their three minutes or is disruptive, public comment will be terminated for the night.
If a speaker who received a 90-day suspension disrupts a meeting for a second time within a year, they’ll be issued a 180-day suspension.
Although the city council can limit people’s ability to give public comment, people can still attend city council meetings unless they are violent or dangerous, former City Attorney Jonathan Young said previously.
Policy changes
Other policy changes allow for a primary representative and an alternate (as well as a substitute if neither are available) on boards and commissions where councilor participation is required or optional. There are no term limits for a councilor serving in either role.
The policies also establish an investigative standard for misconduct allegations against certain city employees. The city will create an online portal for community members to lodge complaints.
City staff will investigate all “plausible allegations” that, if true, would constitute a violation of law or city policy, City Attorney Nena Cook said in a staff memo.
The council will decide other policy changes — including those affecting public forums, attendance and all-council emails — this summer or sooner.
