In other business, the council passed a controversial series of amendments to its rules of order, effectively replacing the free-flowing public comment portion of its regular meetings with 20-minute “listening sessions,” which will take place before each council meeting.
The listening sessions are intended to provide the public a venue to comment on issues not on the council’s agenda for that particular night. Members of the public will still be provided the opportunity to comment on agenda items during the regular meeting.
The change comes after a large, passionate group of Northfielders, including many students and professors at Carleton and St. Olaf colleges, repeatedly visited council meetings and flooded the public comment section with calls for the council to adopt a symbolic resolution in favor of a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip.
While it would be unusual for a City Council to weigh in on a foreign policy issue, more than 100 cities across the country have passed symbolic resolutions calling for a Gaza ceasefire, including the Minnesota cities of Minneapolis, St. Paul, Hastings, Columbia Heights and Moorhead.
Councilors Davin Sokup and George Zuccolotto eventually introduced a pro-ceasefire resolution, but it failed on a tie vote after other Councilors expressed concern that it would set a precedent which would compel the Council to intervene in other matters far outside its direct jurisdiction.
Several members of the public expressed strong concern over the move to replace open comment with “listening sessions,” arguing that the change was intentionally designed to reduce the transparency of city government and curtail a key opportunity for public feedback.
Under the established open public comment rules, each individual speaker was limited, but there was no limit on the total number of speakers. As part of the “listening sessions,” only 10 speakers will be allowed to speak for up to two minutes each.
The new rules additionally state that speakers must speak on matters of city related business, or which fall under the jurisdiction of the city. Speakers are also not allowed to address the council on a topic they have addressed the Council on within the previous 90 days.
Councilors Kathleen Holmes and Jessica Peterson White argued that the changes were intended to expand, not restrict, the opportunity for true public feedback by providing councilors the opportunity to respond and engage in back and forth discussion with members of the public.
“I think this is purely coming from a very genuine place of how can we make sure the information is getting out there, and we’re hearing each other, and doesn’t create these artificial separations where we can be in community, in dialogue together,” Holmes said.
Peterson White noted that other bodies of local government, such as the Rice County Board of Commissioners, have traditionally placed significant limits on public comments, and questioned whether Northfield’s “free for all” approach to public comments was truly helping to make its decision making more reflective of public desires.
“What I am always hoping for is that we can find ways for people on the margins, people who are less likely to feel entitled to come speak to us.. to reach us as decision makers,” Peterson White said. “My experience with the way that the open public comment period has generally functioned in Northfield is that it has at times served to amplify and elevate the most privileged voices while serving to silence those who are not.”
Zuccolotto was the only Councilor to express hesitance in moving forward with the new rules. Concerned that 20 minutes might not provide adequate time for the public to make its opinions heard, he said the Council should consider further reviews and modifications to the proposal.
“I think 20 minutes before our meeting is a way of limiting communication back and forth between the Council Members and the public,” Zuccolotto said. “I think this could be more well thought out and we could come back with it in a couple of months.”
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