§ 2.20.150. Public testimony at regular and special meetings.

A.

Every agenda for every regular or special meeting shall provide an opportunity for members of the public to directly address a local body on items of interest to the public that are within the local body's subject matter jurisdiction, provided that no action shall be taken on any item not appearing on the agenda unless the action is otherwise authorized by Government Code Section 54954.2(b). The agenda of local bodies need not provide an opportunity for members of the public to address the local body on any item that has already been considered by a committee, composed exclusively of members of the local body, at a meeting in which members of the public were afforded the opportunity to address the committee before or during the committee's consideration of the item, unless the item has been substantially changed since the committee heard the item, as determined by the local body.

B.

Every agenda for regular or special meetings at which action is proposed to be taken on an item shall provide an opportunity for each member of the public to directly address the body concerning that item before taking action. The presiding officer of any local body may request speakers representing similar views to designate a spokesperson in the interest of time. Nothing shall prohibit a local body from adopting rules for allocating additional time to a speaker who desires to speak on multiple agenda items so that the speaker shall address all items at one time before the local body's consideration of those items.

C.

Every local body shall adopt a rule providing that each person wishing to speak on an item shall be permitted to speak once based upon previously adopted time constraints which are reasonable and uniformly applied. It shall be the policy of the city that all speakers be entitled to a minimum of two minutes of speaking time per agenda item, subject to the discretion of the presiding officer of the local body. The presiding officer shall announce publicly all reasons justifying any reduction in speaker time. The stated reasons shall be based at least on a consideration of the time allocated or anticipated for the meeting, the number and complexity of agenda items, and the number of persons wishing to address the local body.

D.

No local body shall abridge or prohibit public criticism of the policies, procedures, programs or services of the local body or agency, or of any other aspect of its proposals or activities, or of the acts or omissions of the local body, even if the criticism implicates the performance of one or more public employees. Nothing in this subsection shall confer any privilege or protection beyond that which is otherwise provided by law.

(Ord. 12483 (part), 2003; Ord. 11957 § 00.15, 1997)