Beginning with the Tuesday meeting of the Brewton City Council, citizens will be required to submit a request to be included on the agenda before being allowed to address the members of the council.
Brewton City Clerk John Angel said the directive for the decisions came this week and is effective immediately. “There will be no more ‘comments from the floor’ as it pertains to the end of the council agendas,” Angel said. “Anyone wishing to speak to or present an item to the council must submit it to my office with a name, number and the request. I will present each item to the council after the ‘new business’ portion of the agenda is completed.”
Angel said the city made the change to streamline meetings and eliminate unexpected surprises.
“By knowing what will be presented, the council won’t be surprised with information and won’t be put on the spot,” Angel said. “People won’t be allowed to simply raise their hands at the end of the meeting, but will have to present their information in advance of the meeting. A lot of larger cities follow this procedure limiting the number of comments and even limiting each speaker to three minutes. This is not an unusual procedure for city councils to follow.”