PROCEDURES FOR PUBLIC COMMENT TO ACCOMPANY BOARD POLICY 1.10
Such comment is limited to topics that are within the jurisdiction of this Board of Trustees.
The City College Board of Trustees has established these procedures to encourage as many stakeholders as possible to provide comments and input on important decisions facing the college. To that end, we want to make it easier for any member of the community to participate. The Board truly values the time and effort the public puts into the comment process.
These procedures were reviewed by the ȷ General Counsel and are in full compliance with the Brown Act, Board Policies and the California Educational Code. The Board reserves the right to modify these procedures as necessary to conduct an effective meeting in the public interest.
Effective August 30, 2018, the Board adopts the following procedures for public comment:
- All public comment on all items, whether on or off the agenda, will occur at the beginning of the business meeting.
- Speakers are normally limited to two minutes. (Please note exception in #3 below.) Speakers are able to see the elapsed time on the timekeeper’s clock. A comment must end when time is called by the timekeeper.
- Per Board Policy 1.10, public comment is limited to two minutes per speaker for no more than a total of ten (10) minutes per topic. If more than five speakers wish to speak on a given topic, the Board reserves the right to limit each speaker to one minute.
- A speaker may comment on more than one topic or agenda item at a time, but all speakers will be limited to a total of five minutes regardless of the number of agenda items. For example, if a speaker wishes to address three agenda items, the speaker would be allocated a total of five minutes for all three items, rather than six minutes.
- The Board and administration will not respond to speakers nor engage speakers in discussion.
- After the period for public comment has concluded, no further public comment will be accepted on any item.
TO MEMBERS OF THE PUBLIC
The Agenda and accompanying resolutions have been prepared well in advance of the regularly scheduled meeting of the Board of Trustees of the San Francisco Community College District. Please note that board agenda items are subject to amendment and replacement. Copies of all board agenda items and materials associated with the agenda will usually be available for public inspection and review at the Gough Street Campus (33 Gough Street, San Francisco, Ca. 94103) and also available on the District's website at least 72 hours in advance of the regularly scheduled Board Meeting. Materials not ready 72 hours in advance of the meeting will be made available to the public at the same time they are made available to the Board members, either at the locations listed above, or at the Board meeting, depending upon when the materials become available.
Notwithstanding the Agenda, the order of items to be considered at any meeting is subject to change at the discretion of the Board President, or the Board by a majority vote, if it is determined that a different order of business is appropriate.
PUBLIC PARTICIPATION AT BOARD MEETINGS
Members of the public will have an opportunity to speak in accordance with Government Code 54954.3 and Education Code 72121.5. Under Board Policies 1.10 and 1.11, speakers are limited to a maximum of two minutes per agenda item, and two minutes for general public comment on matters not listed on the agenda. To facilitate the completion of District business, the President, or the Board by majority vote, may limit the total length of time allotted to comments on a given agenda item and may reduce the individual speakers’ time below the two minute maximum.
Thirty minutes will be the usual maximum time allotment for public speakers on any one subject on the agenda regardless of the number of speakers at any one Board meeting. At the discretion of the President, or the Board by majority vote, this time allotment may be reduced or enlarged.
Any person desiring to address the Board must complete a “Request to Address the Board” card. Cards will be available in the Office of the Chancellor and at each Board meeting. As a matter of courtesy, the Board encourages people to notify the Chancellor’s Office in advance of the Board meeting of their intention to address the Board. Completed cards should be presented to the Board President prior to the beginning of the meeting so the President can determine if speaker cards have been submitted for each item. The request must include the person’s name and name of the organization or group represented, if any, and a statement noting the number of the agenda item or topic to be addressed.
Requests to speak to an item on the agenda will be recognized as that item is taken up by the Board. No member of the public may speak without being recognized by the Board President. The President may terminate a speaker’s privilege of address if the speaker fails to speak on the subject matter for which the privilege of the floor was granted, the remarks are unduly repetitive, general public comment concerns a matter not within the Board’s jurisdiction, or if the speaker is ruled out of order under Board Policy 1.11. The Board President will determine the order of speakers.
Employees who are members of a bargaining unit represented by an exclusive bargaining agent may address the Board, but may not attempt to negotiate terms and conditions of their employment. This policy does not prohibit any employee from addressing a collective bargaining proposal pursuant to the public notice requirements of Government Code Section 3547 and Board Policy 2610.
Comments and presentations made by members of the public to the Board do not necessarily reflect the opinion of the Board or of its individual members, nor does the Board necessarily endorse or sanction such comments or presentations. Persons who address the Board are solely responsible for the content of such comments or presentations.
Disruptive behavior at any time during a Board meeting is not permitted. If any meeting is willfully disrupted by the actions of one or more persons so as to render the orderly conduct of the meeting infeasible, the Board may exercise its rights under the Brown Act to, at its discretion: recess the meeting until the disruption subsides; eject those creating the disturbance; or continue the meeting outside the presence of the public. Disruptive behavior includes, but is not limited to, speaking when not recognized by the chair; profanity; use of threats; use of noise makers, excessive applauding, jeers, cat-calls, “open-mike” calls, chants, and similar demonstrative behavior; use of signs, banners and placards in a way that interferes with others’ ability to view the proceedings; and conduct intended to intimidate Board members or staff, such as the unauthorized approach of one or more person to the dais.