POCATELLO — Local community members no longer have the opportunity to make public comments at the end of Pocatello City Council meetings.
That’s because Pocatello Mayor Brian Blad has removed the “Items from the Audience” agenda item from all future City Council meetings. No longer is there an agenda item that allots a maximum of 15 minutes with no more than three minutes per speaker to provide the public with the opportunity to address the City Council on any item not included on that meeting’s agenda.
Without any public notice, Blad removed the “Items from the Audience” agenda item in December 2022.
“Since the City Council and I cannot respond to items brought forward from this 15-minute item on a City Council agenda, I felt it best to remove the item,” Blad told the Idaho State Journal in a Friday email. “Citizens have many options to engage with our City Council members and with me. You are always welcome to call us, to email us or to schedule appointments with us. This way, we can take time to thoroughly discuss any great ideas, concerns or requests you may have.”
According to city spokesperson Marlise Irby, the last City Council meeting that allowed for public comments on non-agenda items was held on Dec. 15, 2022. Irby also noted that public comments were temporarily suspended during the COVID-19 pandemic for public health reasons but were ultimately restored.
Blad’s decision has attracted the attention of the local government watchdog group Pocatello for Accountable Government Entities, or P.A.G.E. The group emailed City Clerk Konni Kendell last week inquiring about the change and was told in an email response on Feb. 16 that, “The Council has asked that ‘Items from the Audience’ not be included on the agendas at this time. Citizens are encouraged to contact the City Council members via phone, email or U.S. mail to address items, as needed. Items may be referred to the appropriate staff or scheduled on a future agenda.”
The Journal on Friday asked Irby if the City Council or the city’s legal department was involved in the decision to remove public comments from council meetings, to which she said, “Prior to removing ‘Items from the Audience’ from the agenda, Mayor Blad consulted with the city’s legal department. In the state of Idaho, there is no state statutory requirement or recommendation to have an open public comment period during City Council meetings except for during a properly noticed public hearing.”
The Journal also asked Irby for clarification about who ultimately decided to remove the public comment agenda item and why Kendell told P.A.G.E. that it was a City Council decision, to which Irby replied, “While the Mayor ran removing ‘Items from the Audience’ past some of the council members, after talking to legal it was ultimately the Mayor’s decision to make.”
Pocatello City Council President Rick Cheatum said he was surprised by Blad’s decision. Cheatum said he “didn’t think taking an extra 15 minutes at each council meeting (to allow for public comments) was too much to ask.”
But Pocatello City Council member Josh Mansfield echoed a sentiment similar to Blad’s.
“In my time on the council, I’ve found that citizens are frustrated that we aren’t able to respond to their comments or answer their questions,” Mansfield said. “We, as a council, are forced to either tell the commenter that we can’t talk to them about the issue or if we do try to address the issue, we risk open meeting rule violations that could invalidate future action on that item. I know that I, along with other council members, go out of our way to make ourselves available to answering questions of citizens and the council takes every email or correspondence very seriously and each one is addressed.”
Pocatello City Council members Linda Leeuwrik, Corey Mangum, Brent Nichols and Scott Marchand did not respond to the Journal’s request for comment for this article.
In a statement emailed to the Journal Friday, P.A.G.E. criticized Blad’s decision.
“Public comment is a basic principle of representative democracy and is critical for bringing about accountability within government,” P.A.G.E. stated. “There is no justifiable reason for its elimination. P.A.G.E. fully believes in the merits of ‘public comment’ even if the comments provided are not actionable or the Mayor or City Council chooses to ignore them (which has been our repeated experience). Citizens have a right to voice their opinions and concerns and provide information to their representatives in a public forum and for that to become part of the video public record.”
P.A.G.E.’s statement continued, “While we acknowledge the agendas are set by the Mayor, the council has yet to embrace that they are the policymakers for the city. If they exercised the authority granted to them by the people, a majority could establish a city policy requiring public comment to be held at all council meetings. They also have a responsibility to be responsive to their constituents and to follow through and confirm that issues or questions being raised are addressed and answered. This has not been happening. Removal of public comment only serves to silence dissenting or alternative views, control information and aids in hiding the concerns or issues being brought to the Mayor and council’s attention. P.A.G.E. strongly denounces this decision and encourages the Mayor and council to restore public comment.”
While Idaho law does not require governmental entities to provide members of the public with an opportunity to raise issues or simply speak what’s on their mind to elected officials such as local city council members in a public setting, it’s typically regarded as a best practice for maintaining transparency.
In its ethics manual, the Association of Idaho Cities, of which Pocatello is a member, mentions the importance of allowing constituents to make general comments during public meetings.
“The public has the right to attend meetings, but opportunities for the public to speak are generally limited to designated public comment periods and to public hearings,” the Association of Idaho Cities’ Transparent and Ethical government manual states. “Many cities provide a public comment period on the agenda of regular council meetings. This provides an important opportunity to hear from the public, but there should be reasonable sideboards: issues must be relevant to city government, no repetitive or abusive comments, complaints about city staff should be made in private, time should be limited to 3-5 minutes per speaker and any issue requiring council action must be put on the agenda of a future council meeting.”
When asked in what ways does this decision negatively impact the optics of the city maintaining or providing transparency to its residents, Irby said, “Everything the City Council does is transparent. Monthly council meetings, monthly work sessions, and budget meetings are streamed live on the city’s YouTube channel and the City of Pocatello website. Those videos are then saved on the YouTube channel for community members to watch at a later date. All City Council meeting agendas are posted according to state law, 48 hours in advance for regular meetings and 24 hours in advance for special meetings.”
Irby also stated that “by discontinuing the ‘Items from the Audience,’ we believe this will speed up the process of listening and helping community members, instead of waiting for monthly council meetings. We believe the comment period has prevented people from speaking in the past. By removing this section, community members can have a more personal conversation with City Council members and/or the Mayor.”
When asked to respond to those who believe removing this agenda item is a disservice to the community, Irby said, “The negatives surrounding the ‘Items from the Audience’ section outweigh the benefits to the citizens, because council is unable to act on any items brought forward. In addition, citizens have repeated misinformation during ‘Items from the Audience’ and council members and Mayor Blad cannot comment and/or take action.”
According to Irby, this change is currently permanent.