LATE NIGHT DEBATE: HOW LATE IS TOO LATE FOR CITY COUNCIL MEETINGS?
For many city councils, the price of democracy is that moment of peak fatigue, after deliberations have gone on too deliberately. A rule of thumb, when the meeting goes late, the quality of discussion is not great.
For that reason, many city councils have rules that put a fence around how late a meeting can go. Tempers were short and angry words were exchanged when a recent Berkeley meeting went past midnight and more members of the public wanted to be heard on the topic of a draft of a city’s Climate Action Plan. At the end of the meeting, bleary council members were unsure if they were voting on a resolution to extend the voting on amendments to the Climate Action Plan.
Most California cities wrestle at one time or another with the proper way to close discussion and vote on issues before council members become punchy. Often this is expressed by putting a time limit on speakers. Most cities have a three- or five-minute limit on speakers. In Berkeley, this limit is two minutes.
At one time Berkeley council meetings started with a “lottery” in which five people’s names were drawn out of a drum, out of all who wished to speak on non-public hearing matters. After some people objected, the city received a legal opinion that the method was illegal. If less than 10 residents have signed up to speak, they get two minutes each. If it’s more than 10, they get one minute.
The Berkeley council policy guide has this rule:
No council meeting shall continue past 11:00 pm unless a two-thirds majority of the Council votes to extend the meeting to discuss specified any motion to extend the meeting beyond 11:00 pm shall include a list of specific agenda items to be covered and shall specify in which order items shall be handled.
Sometimes it’s enough just to raise awareness.