St. Joseph City Commissioners are looking to put some limits on the public comments section of their meetings, potentially saving a whole lot of time. During a meeting Monday, Mayor Laura Goos said public comments at commission meetings now are a sort of free for all with no time limit, and often with commissioners speaking back to commenters. That is unusual as most elected bodies have time limits on comments from members of the public and the elected bodies don’t answer back. Commissioner Lynn Todman noted Monday there was a recent meeting at which one woman took up more than 20 minutes talking. She, and all the other commissioners, agreed each public comment should be limited to three minutes. The question of whether commissioners should engage the commenters was tougher, with Goos noting it feels strange not to talk with them. The commission instructed city staff to draft a form for people to submit requests for commissioners. The new policy does not require a commission vote.
