This is no chat room

By Emily Richmond

Thursday, June 28, 2007 | 7:21 a.m.

Make it snappy!

That's the message from a Clark County School Board weary of meetings that drag on late into the night because members of the public have a tendency to talk and talk and talk.

So the board is proposing to limit speakers who appear before it to three minutes, no matter how many topics they sign up to talk about (down from the current limit of five minutes), encourage large groups to choose one or two spokes people, rather than everyone taking a turn at the mike, and prohibit people from yielding unused time to another speaker.

"Having 10 people get up and say the same thing isn't always effective," said School Board trustee Carolyn Edwards, who chaired the three-member committee behind the revised guidelines. "We're asking people to organize a little bit, so we're not there until 1 in the morning."

The Clark County Commission already makes a similar request of its public speakers, Edwards said.

Edwards' committee, which includes trustee Shirley Barber and School Board President Ruth Johnson, also would lift the unrealistic 60-minute limit on all public comment.

At meetings with student dress codes, school start times or other hot-button issues on the agenda, public comment sessions often have lasted two hours or longer.

The new time limit for individuals is intended to outflank regulars in the audience who know they can score extra time by signing up to speak about more than one agenda item, then use the added time to wander back to Topic A. The board has little power to force those speakers to stay on topic.

Often, speakers sign up for more than one agenda item and end up speaking about matters that aren't even up for consideration.

People who want to talk about non-agenda items would still be entitled to two minutes, although they would have to wait until the end of the regular meeting. The revised guidelines also emphasize that by law, trustees cannot take action on matters that are not on the posted agenda.

The board will consider the proposed rules tonight.

State law requires public bodies to provide an opportunity for comment, but sets no limits or minimum requirements on time. At public meetings, "a person's right to speak may be limited by reasonable time restraints," according to an opinion provided to the Sun by Nevada's attorney general.

Gary Peck, executive director of the Nevada ACLU, applauded the School Board's proposal to lift the 60-minute limit. But Peck said, "We are disappointed in the other proposed changes."

The ACLU took issue with the suggestion that the board ask - but not require - that just one or two people be designated to speak on behalf of large groups.

"The language itself is inhibiting," he said. "Lots of different people may want to speak on the same subject and have different thoughts to contribute and different points to make. They should be encouraged to rise and speak even if 100 people have risen to speak before them."

Peck noted that the School Board's rallying cry has long been for greater involvement by parents and the community in its policy making process .

"They ought to be thinking of things that will increase, not decrease, participation," Peck said.

To help keep meetings running on schedule, the School Board recently switched its starting time from 5:30 p.m. to 4 p.m., with a pledge that public comment would not begin until 5 p.m. That gives the district an hour for presentations, recognition ceremonies and other special events.

If the earlier schedule works well this summer, the School Board will consider making it a permanent change.