Village Board to Give You Two Minutes for Your Two Cents

If you attend Montgomery Village Board meetings regularly, you may soon notice some changes in the way things are done. And if you don’t, well, at least one of these might get you down to Village Hall more often.

Starting with the next board meeting on Aug. 22, you’ll have the chance to address the village board on any topic you wish for two minutes, without having to sign up beforehand. This is a change from the current policy, which allows you to speak, but only if you sign up by noon on the Tuesday before the meeting, and provide the topic you wish to address.

The change was suggested by Trustee Stan Bond, who believes the old policy to be restricting, particularly since residents don’t get to see the agenda before the sign-up deadline, and wouldn’t know if it contains issues that interest them. He believes this policy is keeping people from attending the meetings.

You can still sign up a week in advance, and that will allow you up to five minutes to address the board. But even if you don’t do that, you can attend the meeting and have two minutes. The policy does not guarantee a response, and it allows the village president to cut remarks short if they become "repetitive, abusive, drift off topic, or continue beyond the allotted timeframe," according to a memo given to trustees.

Bond also suggested a period of social interaction at each meeting, so attendees can talk with their elected officials, but the board voted that idea down.

The other change will see the standing committees—Finance, Development, and Intergovernmental—eliminated in favor of a second Committee of the Whole meeting each month. The three committees each included all six trustees, but with some meetings early in the morning, full attendance was rare.

The additional COW meeting will fall on the second Wednesday of each month. The first of these will convene on Sept. 14 at 7 p.m. This means the Village Board will meet four times a month (down from six): the Committee of the Whole will meet on the second Wednesday and the third Tuesday, and the full board on the second and fourth Mondays. All meetings are at 7 p.m.

Five of the six trustees gave this plan the nod last week, while Trustee Pete Heinz said he would prefer things stay as they are. Trustees also canceled the Aug. 8 Village Board meeting, citing lack of items for the agenda.