New procedures have been adopted by the Conroe City Council that allows members of the community better access to city information and time to address members of the council.
The council approved a change in public comment to limit speakers to agenda items only last month. Now at the end of a workshop meeting, the council has added time to allow members of the community to address non-agenda items.
If citizens would not like to speak publicly, the process also allows residents to fill out a form previous to a meeting with their comments that will be passed along to the council. Community members will also be allowed by the city to respond to items posted to the city’s social media platforms following the restriction of comments for several months.
Councilmember Marsha Porter said she initiated the changes during the council’s January 6th meeting. She called public comment during earlier council meetings “a three ring circus.”
She said during the past several months of meetings the community has addressed the council on topics on the agenda and off. Porter said the council is prohibited from responding because of the Texas Open Meetings act if speakers are not talking about items on the agenda. If the subject is on the agenda, then councilmembers can respond.
City administrator Gary Scott said social media platforms have allowed a space for citizens to talk about city business before the council had addressed the issues in the form of an open session. It has made for an avenue for misinformation to be shared, according to Scott.
