Frisco weighs restoring public comment at council meetings

Frisco officials are considering restoring public comment on non-agenda items.

During an Aug. 4 work session, the Frisco City Council discussed options for restoring public comment on non-agenda items while protecting residents.

How we got here

During a June 2 Frisco City Council meeting, council members removed the citizen input section of the city’s agenda.

According to former Mayor Jeff Cheney, the citizen input section was removed following an increase in speakers from outside the community who used council chambers to promote personal or political agendas.

Frisco previously provided a citizen input period during public meetings for residents to address the council on community concerns or topics not on the agenda, although the Texas Open Meetings Act does not require this type of general public comment.

What to know

During the work session, Special Projects Director Ken Schmidt and City Council members discussed recommendations for restoring public comments to future meetings.

Council members considered:

• Moving public comment on non-agenda items to the end of meetings
• Permanently reducing non-agenda speaking time
• Limiting public comment to one of the council's two monthly meetings
• Increasing town hall meeting frequency
• Capping the total public comment period at 30 minutes
• Adopting public comment policies from neighboring cities
• Implementing a registration system for non-agenda speakers

Council members expressed support for moving non-agenda comments to the end of meetings and limiting speakers to three minutes, while keeping the five-minute limit for agenda items.

What they’re saying

Frisco City Council Member Burt Thakur emphasized the importance of citizen input.

“At the end of the day, I do believe the citizens are getting a detriment because of a few bad actors,” Thakur said. “It’s our job to provide a forum that keeps that healthy communication."

Council members differed on whether to hold more town hall meetings and how often non-agenda public comments should be offered.

“Adding more town hall meetings to our plate is a lot,” council member Jared Elad said.

Council member Angelia Pelham said the council does not want to do away with open communication with residents.

“We want to hear the voice of residents, so I’d certainly be open to more (town hall) meetings," she said.

Frisco Mayor Mark Hill said the workshop offered a good starting point for a return to non-agenda comments.

“There’s clear consensus that we’re not going to do away with it in totality. What we don’t know yet is frequency,” Hill said.

One last thing

Frisco residents can reach out directly to council members and city officials through email, phone and the MyFrisco app.