Berkeley resident Marilee Mitchell said the time allotted to public comment at City Council meetings is insufficient.

"I think it's outrageous, only last week there was a public hearing and we were only given one minute on the Downtown Area Plan that has been about for four years," Mitchell said. "You shouldn't have just one minute, they are ripping people off."

Like Mitchell, many residents say the speaking time of two minutes is not enough to voice all their opinions and limits their influence upon the council, but councilmembers say that more public comment time would slow down the decision-making process.

Providing time for anyone to speak causes public comment to run long, with anywhere from five to 50 speakers for a certain topic, said Councilmember Gordon Wozniak.

"That's the big variable when the mayor and the council set the agenda for meetings because you don't know how many people are going to show up and what is going to be a hot topic."

A total of 76 people spoke during last Tuesday's meeting, making the public hearing portion last more than an hour and half.

Because of these large numbers of opinionated residents, decisions on action items have been postponed at several meetings.

The Downtown Area Plan has been discussed at three consecutive meetings, each meeting holding a public hearing to address the huge number of vocal residents.

Public comment used to be decided on a lottery basis, where only ten names of speakers were drawn randomly and those ten were allowed to speak for three minutes each, according to Councilmember Darryl Moore.

"The lottery system was very

limiting," Moore said.

This limited the public hearing to 30 minutes only, expediting the decision-making process.

However, in 2007, the council unanimously decided to allow everyone to speak during public comment rather than choosing speakers by drawing names, Wozniak said.

"People were arguing that it wasn't fair and that you didn't have a chance to speak unless you brought a group of people interested in a certain topic," Wozniak said. "The council thought it was fair to let everyone have a chance to talk, rather than having to choose a representative."

Because of the current system, people are asked to indicate their support by standing up or addressing new issues to avoid long meetings and repetitive comments, Mayor Tom Bates said. People do get the chance to speak more than once, the record being eight or nine times in one meeting, he added.

Mitchell said public comment doesn't have as much influence as it should over decisions.

"Citizens come up and speak, looking to make some changes, but have no idea how fast items are being voted on," she said.

However, many councilmembers said there are more efficient ways for residents to voice their opinions that would not be subject to time constraints.

Wozniak said he has a Web site where he posts issues for resident response.

"I understand that many people can't come down because they have kids or jobs, but they still want to give input to a particular issue," Wozniak said. "That is why I post a couple of issues online to get a broader range of responses."

According to Moore, residents looking to discuss topics have stopped him on the street, at the grocery store and have called him at home.

Berkeley resident Nancy Nugent said that she finds addressing councilmembers outside of the meetings to be easier and has found that such meetings give her more time to speak her thoughts.

"The councilmembers are always willing to speak with me on any issue," Nugent said. "And when I do, I don't have to wait in line or have my comments timed."

Tags: BERKELEY CITY COUNCIL