[OccupyCU] Public Participation at County Board Meetings

[Alex Cline]

If you expect to take more than five minutes, the other thing you can do
before speaking is to ask that a board member to make a motion to "suspend
the rules" and allow a speaker to continue past five minutes, which is then
put to the entire board to vote on.

On Wed, Feb 29, 2012 at 11:47 AM, Rachel Storm <rachelstrm at gmail.com> wrote:

> OccupyCU,
>
> Below is the work of some CUCPJ members who compiled an understanding of
> the workings
> of a county board meeting. Here are a few rules governing PUBLIC
> PARTICIPATION.
>
>    - Individual speakers only get 5 MINUTES each.
>    - Individual speakers must fill out a form in advance, found just to
>    the left of the door as you come in.
>    - Public Participation time is at 6:00 p.m.- 7:00 p.m.
>
>
> Below is a few rules that govern Public Participation time:
> *
> Section 12, E, 2:* *Unless waived by majority vote of the Board members
> present, the total time allotted for public participation shall not exceed
> sixty (60) minutes.*
>
> This means we can petition the Board to grant everyone the time they need
> to speak instead of stifling public discourse.
>
> *Section 12, E, 3:* *Members of the public wishing to speak at other
> times on the agenda may do so only if recognized by the Chair or by
> majority vote of the Board members present.*
>
> This means that Pious Wiebel can actually call on whoever he wants to
> talk, and that the Board can do the same with a majority vote.  Why doesn't
> this *ever* happen?
>
> Section 12, E, 5: *Board members shall not engage in dialogue with
> members of the public during public participation.*
>
> *WHEN YOU SPEAK AT A COUNTY BOARD MEETING:
>
> YOU MAY WANT TO ADVISE THAT WHEN PEOPLE SPEAK FOR THE FIVE MINUTES,
> AND PIUS WEIBEL SAYS, "5 MINUTES UP"
>
> SPEAKER should RESPOND:
> "MR. CHAIR, MAY I HAVE MORE TIME TO FINISH, ACCORDING TO COUNTY BOARD RULE
> IN SECTION 12, E, 3?"
>
> IF PIUS WEIBEL RESPONDS:
> "NO"
>
> SPEAKER SHOULD THEN RESPOND:
> "I ASK THE CHAIR TO CALL A VOTE OF ALL BOARD MEMBERS AS TO WHETHER I
> SHOULD BE GIVEN MORE TIME, ACCORDING TO COUNTY BOARD RULE IN SECTION 12, E,
> 3"
>
> IF WEIBEL REFUSES, OR NO BOARD MEMBER MAKES A MOTION AND IT'S NOT
> SECONDED, SPEAKER SHOULD POLITELY THANK
> THE CHAIR AND WALK AWAY FROM PODIUM.
>
> BUT EVERY SPEAKER CUT OFF SHOULD USE THIS PROCEDURE TO AT LEAST EXPOSE THE
> CHAIR AND THE BOARD MEMBERS STIFLING DEBATE.
>
> **BEATING THE 5-MINUTE TIME LINE:
>
> If you type out the presentation in it's entirety,
> and you read it in practice, time it.
> Take the total time it took, divide by 5,
> to determine how many readers in succession it would take to read it all.
> Then,
> when you go to the administrator at the county board to turn in your
> participation sheet,
> hand in two or three or four of the individuals who are the "succession
> readers" STAPLED together so
> the Chairman can't reshuffle you all out of order.
> When the first person is called to start the presentation,
> the other(s) to present should carefully follow along the script....
> When the chairman says, "Time, 5 minutes is up...."
> the next presenter can pick up where you left off to finish up the
> presentation.
>
> It doesn't have to be that strictly read. Timing it according to grouping
> or having 4 or more people who know the
> outline of the material can organize it like....
> "I would also like to present about Restorative Circles as the last
> speaker, now they told you about how Restorative
> Circles work before someone is arrested...I would like to talk to you
> about how Restorative Circles work inside the jail.."*
>
> Thank you for your considerations,
> Chris Evans- member of CUCPJ
> research done by Jerehme Bamberger
>
> Below is a matrix of what CUCPJ would consider a better use of the public
> tax dollar toward addressing crime:
>
>
> *REDUCING THE INCIDENTS OF CRIME*
> *(the most inexpensive way
> to maximize public safety)
>
> Before An Arrest Occurs                   Intervention While In
> Jail            Productive Life After Incarceration
> *Education                                           Education- GED
> classes                                 Housing
>
> Substance Abuse Treatment                 NA and/or AA meetings
> (everyday)                Job
> Anger Management                             Restorative Circles, Mental
> Health                  School
> Job                                                    Resume writing, job
> counselors                     Counseling (if needed)
> Career Counseling                              Social workers, guidance
> counselors               Substance Abuse Treatment (if needed)
> Apprenticeships
> Church                                                         Church
> (optional)
> Housing
> Psychologists                                                 Community
> Support
> Money for School                                Community leaders,
> EX-felons
> *
> THE CHALLENGE WILL BE* TO LIST THE SPECIFIC AGENCIES, PROGRAMS,
> ORGANIZATIONS, CHURCHES, PEOPLE, ECT.
> THAT ARE IN THE VARIOUS CATAGORIES...
>
> ...THEN INVITE A REPRESENTATIVE FROM EACH GROUP IDENTIFIED TO ADDRESS THE
> COUNTY BOARD....
>
> ....AND MAKE THE COUNTY BOARD AWARE OF WHAT THE GROUPS PROVIDE, WHAT THEY
> CAN PROVIDE TO AT-RISK/INMATES/EX-CONS
> AND THEIR SUCCESS RATE TO *AVOID HAVING TO ARREST SOMEBODY*  and *HELP
> SOMEONE TO CHANGE THEIR MIND WHILE INCARCERATED* and *HELP SOMEBODY FROM
> RE-OFFENDING.
> *
> ....ON A SINGLE NIGHT? TO FILIBUSTER AND PARADE 2 HOURS OF BETTER OPTIONS
> BEFORE THE COUNTY BOARD FOR
> A MORE EFFECTIVE USE OF THE (STOLEN) TAXPAYER MONEY.
>
> The representatives should be prepared to outline their services for the
> populations that are at-risk, in jail and are attempting to keep people
> from re-offending, and how much money they run on per year, and panhandle
> for some of the required 5% of the tax dollars that is allocated by law in
> the quarter cent tax referendum.
> The case for spending beyond the 5% of the quarter cent tax rates will
> depend on the quality of the idea and presentation, and the county
> board's willingness to spend less money on wild construction and more on
> our RFP.
> *
>
>
> *
>
>
>
> _______________________________________________
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> OccupyCU at lists.chambana.net
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>
>
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