Do we really want to hear this again? – and for how long anyway?!?

New chair and vice chair (humph) in place, the Warren County Board of Supervisors have set new limits on non-agenda public comments at coming meetings. Photos/Roger Bianchini

At its first meeting of 2019 the Warren County Board of Supervisors took a step toward updating, and likely more strenuous enforcement, of rules to limit the verbosity of public speakers commenting on non-agenda items at future meetings.

The rules on time allowed to speak, total time devoted to non-agenda items, and how many times within a 12-month period a citizen may address the same non-agenda topic at a board meeting apply to what is variously called “Public Presentations” “Public Comments” or “Public Concerns” and is heard near the beginning of meeting agendas.

At the county supervisors meeting of January 8 when the rules were amended it came after the meeting’s call to order, pledge of allegiance, agenda adoption, and once-a-year election of officers Murray gains board gavel; reporter’s nomination for vice chair nixed – though no one took advantage of the opportunity to raise a non-agenda public concern before the board at its first meeting of the new year.

The rules approved unanimously on a motion by Happy Creek Supervisor Tony Carter, seconded by South River Supervisor Linda Glavis, are a limit of five minutes per speaker; a total of 20 minutes devoted to this portion of the meeting; and a limit of three times within a 12-month period that a citizen may address the same topic during this portion of a board meeting.

Hurry on along with those comments – OH wait, that’s not a ‘public’ presentation, it’s Public Schools Superintendent (and EDA board member) Greg Drescher giving a scheduled report on the status of the county’s public schools. In his address Drescher suggested parents of home-schooled children consider partial attendance at county public schools.

At Carter’s suggestion the individual speaker time was increased to five minutes from the existing three-minute limit presented in the staff summary of suggested rules adoption, as was the total time devoted to Public Presentations increased from 15 to 20 minutes. Discussion noted that the individual speaking limit could be increased to a maximum of 10 minutes by the board chair; and that such chair rulings could be overruled by a simple majority vote of the entire board.

Other rules not amended include that speakers first give their name and address; direct their remarks to the board; and treat the board with respect and civility, as they will in turn be treated by the board members.

“The Mark Egger Rules” as we like to call them will be revisited at a public hearing to adopt the approved meeting rule changes into the county codes at the board’s next meeting of January 22. That meeting convenes at 7 p.m., with public hearings scheduled to begin at 7:30 p.m. County staff indicated that while absent from the January 8 rules change discussion, Mark Egger has requested information on the January 22 public hearing that will align county codes with the newly-adopted rule changes.

Mark Egger lets county officials know what he thinks – just 3 times or a total of 15 minutes a year per topic from now on, Mark.

Egger, father of former Front Royal Town Councilwoman Bébhinn Egger, has repeatedly appeared before the supervisors in the past year or so since his daughter resigned from council to marry and move from the area. Mr. Egger has carried on expressions of concerns his daughter often voiced as a councilwoman regarding EDA operations – particularly the still-unrealized workforce housing project – and County oversight, or a lack thereof, over the local economic development authority. The county government has taken over sole operational funding and direct municipal oversight of the EDA as part of the ongoing town-county negotiations over the Route 522 North Corridor Agreement.

As questions about EDA operations and financing have mounted in the past year, Egger’s criticism of the county supervisors’ oversight role has intensified leading to one 15-minute public concerns statement allowed by then-Board Chairman Carter that ended somewhat testily.

The board and public may find out what Egger’s opinion of the public presentations rule changes are on January 22 – if it is ruled that his comments address a new topic, not the EDA and county board oversight criticism he has expressed over the past 12 months – we heard a rumor the board may consider its rule changes retroactive as they apply to that 3 times x 12 months limitation.

Watch the discussion here:

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