Mount Prospect puts a four-minute time limit on public comment

Members of the public who speak at Mount Prospect village board meetings must now keep their comments within a four-minute time frame.

Trustees approved the time limit Tuesday at a meeting where public comments exceeded an hour. Originally, the proposed ordinance limited the time to three minutes. But Trustee Colleen Saccotelli suggested four minutes, recognizing that residents can get flustered speaking at the podium.

In addition to imposing the time limit, the ordinance requires speakers to sign up before meetings to speak. It also prohibits speakers from addressing each other.

“I've been through many mayors and several trustees and village managers, and I've never heard anything like this before,” Mount Prospect resident Louis Goodman, who has been attending village board meetings since 1963, said. “I hope that somebody on the board will get it through their head that maybe we don’t need all these restrictions on people talking.”

Most public elected bodies throughout the suburbs limit public comment to three minutes per speaker and restrict elected officials from engaging with speakers during the commenting period.

Resident Jill Friedrichs said there is another forum for more extensive public comment, the Saturday coffees with council.

Resident Erin Cullen questioned a provision stating speakers shall make every attempt not to be redundant or repeat points made by others. She said it could lead public officials to limit the content of public comment.

Trustees said the new measures won’t restrict speech, but focus it.

Village Attorney Lance Malina said the primary purpose of the meetings is for the board to conduct its business.

“It’s not a public forum,” he said. “It’s a limited public forum.”