Chicago aldermen get an earful about public participation rules

Limiting public participation at City Council meetings to 3 minutes a person and 30 minutes overall is "grossly inadequate" and "invites more litigation," aldermen were warned Wednesday.

After getting an earful about the ground rules they've established for continuing to give the public their say, the City Council's Rules Committee put off a vote on the ordinance until the morning of the June 28 Council meeting.

It wasn't the complaints or threat of another lawsuit that forced the delay. It was the simple fact that Rules Committee Chairman Michelle Harris (8th) didn't have a quorum and needed one on an ordinance as controversial as this.

Harris insisted there would be "no changes," in spite of the barrage of complaints unleashed Wednesday.

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