To the Editor:

I am writing to express how pleased I am with the consideration of the Guilderland Town Board to establish rules of conduct for various town meetings [“Guilderland debates: Should time for public comment be prescribed?, The Altamont Enterprise, June 28, 2022]. This was sorely needed and will now set reasonable expectations for not only the general public and applicants, but for the various committees/boards as well.

What was surprising and somewhat disturbing, was that it took one town council member to vehemently push back and explain why there should be no time limits for resident comments in the resolution. The remaining board members did not think this would be a problem and were in favor of time limits for comments, especially with larger meetings.

There were several members of the public who submitted letters against a time limit, and several others also spoke out against time limits. Although some felt that a person could get their point across in three to five minutes or less, several disagreed, especially if someone is intimately affected by a project or may not be comfortable speaking in public.

The purpose in asking the town for guidelines regarding decorum/behavior at town meetings was due to one single incident not something that occurs on a regular basis, necessitating a change in how the public is allowed to respond in a public hearing. This had more to do with applicant behavior and not that of the general public.

What is important to note, is that although the New York State Town Code may allow limits, there is nothing that says there must be limits. We are aware that other municipalities do set limits, but Guilderland never has.

The various chairs have the ability to do so, and have, but why is it necessary to include this in a resolution now? We raised the question as to how we got to limiting speech in a public hearing by asking for something to outline appropriate behavior at town meetings? Of course, there was no real answer given.

Ms. Laurel Bohl was advocating for no time limits being set as part of the protocol for meetings. The chairperson(s) for all committees have the ability to set a limit of time if needed, and can ask the speaker to “wrap up.”

In addition, Mr. Peter Barber stated that the chairperson(s) of all town boards and committees are not in favor of setting time limits. They can limit the amount of time speakers may have if necessary if there are a large number of people who wish to be heard at a public hearing.

Robyn Gray

Guilderland

Editor’s note: Robyn Gray chairs the Guilderland Coalition for Responsible Growth.