Board Chair Changing Public Comment Protocol

[Guest Alfonso Valenzuela]

What gives a Board Chairman of a community college district the authority to change the order of the Public Comment and length of each participant's presentation?

[Guest Edgar]

What gives a Board Chairman of a community college district the authority to change the order of the Public Comment and length of each participant's presentation?

Certainly not RONR.

[Josh Martin]

What gives a Board Chairman of a community college district the authority to change the order of the Public Comment and length of each participant's presentation?

If such authority exists, then it would be found in the rules of the community college district or in applicable law. RONR grants no such authority to the chairman.

[rthib]

Nothing in RONR even allows for Public Comment.

Only members are granted the right to speak.

My guess is that either law or rules require public comment. As such, those would prevail over RONR and you need to look to them for guidance.

If they offer none, Even when the public is granted the right to speak by the board, they(the board) would have the right to determine order and length of any presentations and even if a prior order and length is suggested (such as a printed "agenda"), until that agenda is approved by the board, there is nothing that would prevent it being changed. So at the start of the meeting, there is nothing wrong with the chair offering to change that.

That agenda (as with any agenda) would need to be approved by the board.

So in RONR world (assuming no law or bylaws says different):

An "Agenda" is distributed for a regular meeting that shows order and times for public comment

At the start of the meeting, the chair suggest a different agenda than what was distributed to the public.

The board votes to accept that agenda.

If that is what happened, then there is no RONR violation.

The most important point to remember is that the public has No rights (in a RONR world) at the meeting.