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.