Friday, June 7, 2024

Mayor Welch Reverses Ban On Citizen 'Time Yielding' at City Council Meetings

 Former Mayor John Bauters' Tight Control on Citizen Free Speech Lifted by Mayor Courtney Welch (a little)

Citizens Now Allowed to Yield Their Time to Other Citizen Speakers

Mayor Courtney Welch
Tuesday's action means more rights for citizens
addressing their government.  Accountability is
increased (slightly).
In a rare opening up of government accountability, Mayor Courtney Welch announced Tuesday she is reversing a former ban on citizen ‘time yielding’ at City Council meetings.  As is the case in most cities, Emeryville citizens will now be allowed to yield their (two minute) speaking time to another citizen, thereby doubling the speaking time of those granted the extra time, up to four minutes.  
While Mayor Welch did not indicate she would permit more than one citizen to yield their time per go as many other cities in the East Bay do, this expansion of citizen free speech in Emeryville is nonetheless unprecedented.  Over the last decade plus and picking up speed under the tenure of former Mayor John Bauters, citizens wishing to engage with their government by offering up public comment at Council meetings faced nothing but increasing constraint.

The time yield concept was tested Tuesday by members of the staff, who’s union; SEIU, was expressing their disfavor over a City Hall planned 6% roll back on their pay when a staff member called out from the gallery, “I yield my time to the speaker” who’s two minutes speaking time had run out.  It was an outburst that would have brought the gavel down during the time of Mayor John Bauters.  Instead of dropping the gavel, Ms Welch calmly acquiesced and then granted it again to another SEIU member later in the meeting.  And, because all citizens must be treated fairly and equally by the government, citizens are now granted the right to yield their time at Emeryville City Council meetings.

In Emeryville, mayors are given the power to grant or forbid the yielding of public comment time and also the number of minutes citizens are allowed to speak.  California law requires a minimum one minute per citizen for each agenda item but most cities grant three minutes.  Commonly, mayors will lower the speaking time if there are large numbers of speakers.

Former Mayor John Bauters
Not a fan of accountability, Mr Bauters moved to constrain
citizen's ability to speak at City Council meetings making it 
less free than any other time in more than 40 years.

The new increase in ability for citizens to speak to their government in Emeryville is rare indeed.  Twenty years ago, speaking time for public comments was five minutes and multiple citizens could yield their time to speakers at the podium for each agenda item.  This was chipped away at over the years.  The speaking time was first lowered to three minutes and then down to two minutes by Mayor Bauters.  The ability for citizens to yield time was also then taken away by Mayor Bauters.  So draconian were the anti-free speech policies at City Hall by the end of Mayor Bauters tenure, Emeryville had the ill fortune of having the harshest constraints on citizen engagement of all neighboring cities.  Mayor Welch’s increase in Emeryville citizen's free speech rights, incremental though it may be, reverses the nearly two decade long slide.  

3 comments:

  1. Did you ever considered the fact that because you address so often you are one of the reasons why the public speaing has bn so limited for others. Sometimes you speak on every item even if your comments are not germain to the topic under discussion. You are the reason public comment has been so limited

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    Replies
    1. Yes, I have considered that I may be a contributing factor but I was here, advocating for government accountability and livability for the residents 20 years ago, just like today, back when we had more free speech rights than we do now. So Council personalities (Bauters, et al) certainly have something to do with the new anti-free speech paradigm.

      However, your point is well taken. I don’t think the City Council likes your point aired publicly though - because if it’s true, the Council is retaliating against a citizen and that would be a Brown Act violation, In fact, the Council has gone out of its way recently to assure the public they don’t retaliate against those who hold them to account. Since the arrival of Nazis to our Council meetings this year, a new disclaimer is read by the Mayor every meeting stating they will not allow hate speech public comment but criticism of the government and of the Council is allowed and even encouraged, That’s me BTW, critical of the government and the Council. So I am officially encouraged to speak at Council meetings.

      What you’re talking about is something they could never admit and actions they might want to take are constrained by Sacramento. You're accusing the City Council majority of being supremely cynical, at least as much as I ever accuse them of it.
      They may in fact actually be that cynical but I’m going forward, expressing my First Amendment rights as I always have done and the State of California has my (and your) back.

      Delete
  2. Good for Mayor Welch that the Union was able to speak and we citizens can develop ways to be heard. Thanks to Brian for the oversight when things go well and when they do not go well, otherwise, Emeryville's artisitic and vocal history would be lost.

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