On Monday, the city of Durham voted to adopt revised rules of procedure to govern conduct within City Hall, stirring concerns that public comment procedures were being changed.
The rules of procedure establish basic principles of governance between the city council, city staff, and residents during regular meetings and work sessions. The document answers questions like who assumes the gavel if the Mayor and Mayor Pro Tempore are unavailable (the mayor picks), or whether council members who attend a meeting virtually are considered part of quorum (no) or eligible to vote (also no).
Most of the rules are holdovers from previous versions of the document, but some procedures haven’t been enforced as rigorously as others, opening the door for confusion amongst residents about what the rules actually are. The section regarding “addressing the council” drew particular criticism from residents at Monday’s city council meeting who interpreted the adoption of time limits for speakers at public meetings as a new restriction given the seemingly unlimited public comment that’s been the standard in recent years…