County Commission May Revisit Rules for Public Comments at Meetings and Workshops

February 20, 2025
By: Dwayne Page

The rules for public comments at the formal monthly county commission meetings and workshops would change effective July 1, 2025 if recommendations of the government services committee are adopted by the full county commission Monday night.

During Tuesday night’s county commission workshop meeting, a report was presented by Chairman Sabrina Farler on behalf of the government services committee who recently studied the existing policy and voted to propose some amendments. Members of that committee in addition to Farler are Larry Green (Secretary), Greg Matthews, Daniel Cripps(Vice Chair), and Tom Chandler.

Since 2019, the county commission has conducted meetings based on a set of rules regulating the procedures of the DeKalb County Board of Commissioners. Any amendments to these regulations require adoption by a two thirds majority vote of the 14-member commission.

Currently during the formal monthly county commission meeting, any member of the public wishing to address the chairman of the county commission is given three minutes to speak on any topic at the beginning of the meeting. The speaker must give his or her name, address or their district of residence.

Under the proposed changes, members of the public wishing to speak at the formal monthly meeting must first sign up 30 minutes prior to the meeting and may speak for up to three minutes only on agenda items at the beginning of the meeting.

During workshop or committee meetings, any member of the public wishing to address the chair is given three minutes at the end of the meeting for public comments and may speak on any issue without having to sign up as is the current policy.

The proposed new rule for the formal monthly meeting states as follows:” Anyone desiring to speak must sign up and list the item they wish to address. The item must be on the agenda. A signup sheet will be at the door by 6 p.m. and given to the chairman at 6:30 p.m. No one will be allowed to speak without signing up”.

The chairman will be required to read aloud the following previously established rules before the public comments period at both monthly meetings and workshops “All comments shall be directed to the chair. The chair may address questions to individual commissioners, but in no event will the citizen be permitted to call names, question the integrity or motive of any individual or make personal or derogatory comments”

Another proposed new requirement would be that “no applause or unnecessary noise will be allowed during public comments” at both formal monthly meetings and workshops.

According to Chairman Farler, the committee began a review of the county’s public comment rules last month as well as a state statute in an effort to bring more clarity to the policy. “The County Mayor provided a copy of the TCA 8-44-112 (provision of state law) to the government service committee in a January committee meeting to review. After the committee reviewed the public comment section in the current Policy and Procedure Manual, the committee felt that the manual needed clearer guidelines for committees, the workshop, and the monthly formal county commission meeting after reviewing TCA 8-44-112. These recommendations came after a committee meeting in February,” said Farler.

(TCA 8-44-112) states (in part) as follows: “Applicability (a) A governing body shall, for each public meeting, reserve a period for public comment to provide the public with the opportunity to comment on matters that are germane to the items on the agenda for the meeting”.

Meanwhile the government services committee is also recommending that the term “committee of the whole” referring to meetings of the full county commission in a workshop or informative session be renamed “workshops”. The committee is further recommending that the chairman of any standing committee no longer be allowed to make a motion or a second to a motion.

Again, any amendments to the rules takes a two thirds majority vote of the county commission for passage. Farler said the commission could chose to bundle the recommendations in a single vote or vote on each recommendation separately.

During Tuesday night’s commission workshop, Commissioner Beth Pafford said she is opposed to the proposed section prohibiting applause during public comments.

“I think sometimes people want to clap and that can be done in a respectful way. To say the public can’t even show emotion about something in a respectful way is not a road I want to go down,” said Pafford,

“I don’t think that is the intent. Its unnecessary noise and when their motive is in the wrong area,” said Commissioner Farler.

Commissioner Greg Matthews said the “applause” rule, if adopted should apply to all.

“So now we are getting into its okay for one (to applaud) but not another. It needs to be all yes or all no,” said Commissioner Matthews.

“How are you going to stop them,” asked Commissioner Myron Rhody

“When they start it’ll be the chairman to ask for them to be removed,” said Commissioner Matthews.

“In Rutherford and other counties, they do not allow anybody to clap or shout anything to the court during a court proceeding”, said County Mayor Matt Adcock.

“But this is not a court”, answered Commissioner Pafford.

The county commission will meet Monday, February 24 at 6:30 p.m. in the auditorium of the county complex.

February 20, 2025
By: Dwayne Page

A new religious program is making its debut Sunday, February 23 on WJLE

The Commerce Church of Christ at Watertown joins the WJLE programming lineup every Sunday at 7 a.m. featuring minister Joe Puckett.

WJLE is proud of our partner sponsors of religious programs each week and hopes you will tune in often and let them know you listen.

The weekday religious programs are as follows:

•Cross Connection sponsored by the Upper Helton Baptist Church featuring Jimmy Arms: Monday-Friday at 11:55 a.m. each week

•Morning Devotion: A 5-minute daily devotional by a different minister each week Monday-Saturday at 7:25 a.m.

The following are weekly sponsored Sunday programs:

*7:00 a.m.: The Commerce Church of Christ with speaker Joe Puckett

•7:30 a.m.: Amazing Facts featuring Joe Crews presented by the Smithville Seventh Day Adventist Church

•8:00 a.m. Elder Ricky Arnold of the Mount View Primitive Baptist Church (The Firm Foundation)

•8:30 a.m. Outreach Baptist Church with Nathan Thomason (The Outreach Pulpit)

•9:00 a.m. The Keltonburg Missionary Baptist Church (Only Through the Blood)

•9:30 a.m. LOCAL NEWS

•9:35 a.m. Abram Edwards of the Calvary Baptist Church

•10:30 a.m. Bobby Thomason of the Covenant Baptist Church (Fountain of Faith Ministries)

•11:00 a.m. Worship Services from the Smithville Cumberland Presbyterian (Isaac Gray)

•12:00 NOON: LOCAL NEWS

*12:30 p.m.: The Preaching Ministry of Toy Lawson

*1:00 p.m.: Truth that Transforms with Aaron Wright

•1:30 p.m. The House of Prayer with Zachariah Murphy

*2:00 p.m. The Way the Truth and the Life with Billy Hale

•2:30 p.m. Joe Jones of the Christ Pentecostal Church of Brush Creek (The King is Coming)

•3:00 p.m. Prophet James Ferrell of the Church of Jesus Christ (The Word of the Lord)

•4:00 p.m. LOCAL NEWS

•4:15 p.m. Royce Curtis of the People’s Missionary Baptist Church

•6:05 p.m. Gospel music sponsored by Cantrell’s Furniture and Appliances

•9:05 p.m. LOCAL NEWS

Listen each week on WJLE AM 1480 and WJLE FM 101.7 and LIVE Streaming at www.wjle.com.

February 20, 2025
By: Dwayne Page

God’s Food Pantry has rescheduled this week’s General Pantry from Friday, February 21, 9:00AM to 12:00 Noon to Saturday, February 22 from 11:00AM to 2:00 PM due to temperatures and icy roads. This change will also impact some deliveries scheduled Thursday and Friday which include locations south to the Warren County line and west to the Alexandria area. For these routes, you can anticipate a Saturday delivery of your food boxes.

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