Last week’s Bridgeville Borough Council meeting lasted 93 minutes.
But only half of that time was used for council votes and departmental reports. The other half was dedicated to visitor comments.
At the start of the meeting, six borough residents* spoke for 47 minutes before council moved on with the rest of the agenda.
Near the end of the meeting, councilman Joseph Colosimo wondered whether Bridgeville needs to better regulate visitor comments.
“Sometimes I believe things do get a little out of hand as far as the speakers,” he said. “I don’t want to stop anybody from talking, but we’ve had discussions about this before.”
During the past 10 months, visitor comments have accounted for nearly 40% of total council meeting time (see table below). Last June, just six residents spoke for 93 minutes at the start of a 132-minute meeting.
Given this reality, should council impose a time limit, or otherwise force the longer-winded speakers to condense their thoughts?
Michael Tolmer doesn’t think so.
As council president, he is responsible for running each meeting.
“If someone starts going on and on, yes, I will try to curb them,” Tolmer said. “The solicitor has told me the same thing—’You can stop these people right now.’ I know I could. But we’re not Upper St Clair. We’re not Mt Lebanon.”
Tolmer also defended letting residents speak during the voting portion of the meeting—even if they haven’t signed up to speak ahead of time.
“If somebody’s not on the list and they want to say something to interject, I’m going to let them go,” he said.
If you’ve attended a few Bridgeville borough council meetings, or watched them on Bridgeville.org, you’ve probably noticed a pattern during the visitor comment portion.
Bob Fryer usually offers his analysis of various traffic issues, sometimes with the aid of maps and blueprints.
Former councilman Nino Petrocelli sometimes gives his thoughts on various borough matters.
Historical society president Mary Weise almost always promotes her groups upcoming activities.
Tolmer seems to believe that this is all part of what a community government meeting should be—giving residents a platform to voice their thoughts and opinions to elected officials, even if it does make the meetings longer.
“I’m not going to stop Mary Weise from talking about the historical society,” he said, “and I don’t think anybody here is going to.”
South Fayette Township’s code limits visitors to speaking just once during commissioner’s meetings, unless residents are asked to respond to a question.
Upper St. Clair Township’s code allows the board to put a five-minute time limit on each resident’s comments.
But even if Bridgeville residents spoke for an hour-and-a-half every month, Bridgeville borough council meetings would still be incredibly quick and efficient when compared the meetings in neighboring communities.
As local reporters will attest—you don’t just sit down at an Upper St. Clair commissioners meeting—you settle in for an endurance event.
10 Months Of Bridgeville Borough Council Voting Meetings
# Of Commenters* |
Minutes Of Comment |
Minutes/ Commenter |
Meeting Length |
% Of Meeting Devoted To Comment |
|
March 2016 |
7 |
47 |
6.7 |
94 |
50.0% |
Feb. 2016 |
2 |
9 |
4.5 |
33 |
22.2% |
Jan. 2016 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
24 |
0% |
Dec. 2015 |
4 |
38 |
9.5 |
96 |
39.6% |
Nov. 2015 |
6 |
34 |
5.7 |
61 |
55.7% |
Oct. 2015 |
2 |
23 |
11.5 |
72 |
31.9% |
Sept. 2015 |
4 |
26 |
6.5 |
66 |
39.4% |
Aug. 2015 |
8 |
36 |
4.5 |
101 |
35.6% |
July 2015 |
3 |
8 |
2.7 |
118 |
6.8% |
June 2015 |
6 |
93 |
15.5 |
132 |
70.5% |
Total |
42 |
314 |
7.5 |
797 |
39.4% |
*Two people taking the podium at same time regarding the same issue count as one commentor