NORTH BRUNSWICK – The North Brunswick Township Council may change its rules for the public portions of its meetings.
Currently, one 15-minute window is allotted at the end of a workshop meeting for residents to speak. For example, if there are 15 people seeking to provide comment, they would each have one minute to address the council.
Currently, during regular council meetings, each resident is allowed five minutes at a time to speak, for an unlimited number of times. The clock applies to when the resident is speaking; when a council person or director responds, the clock stops.
During the Jan. 7 workshop meeting, council members suggested changing the policy during the regular meeting to allow a limit of three turns per person.
“To me, if you can’t say it in 15 minutes, you should be able to,” Councilman Carlo Socio said.
Mayor Francis “Mac” Womack said surrounding towns enforce limitations.
“Under the current rules, someone could filibuster us the entire night,” he said.
Councilman Bob Davis said a person seeking a resolution to a problem should go through a department director first and then come to the mayor and council for discussion. He said sometimes matters discussed are redundant.
Womack clarified that the council would have the option to continue a conversation past the third round by making a motion to suspend the rule and continue speaking with a resident on the record.
The changes were expected to be put on the agenda for the next regular council meeting, which was scheduled for Jan. 14 as of press time.