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Public Participation at Board Meetings (PDF version (184kb))

The Board of Health of the Wood County General Health District recognizes the value of public comment on issues and the importance of allowing members of the public to express themselves on matters of community interest.

In order to permit the fair and orderly expression of such comment(s), the Board shall provide a period for public participation at every regular meeting of the Board and publish rules to govern such participation in Board meetings on their web site and as part of the sign in sheet for guests.

• If possible, any person or group wishing to place an item on the agenda shall register his/her intent with the Health District no later than three (3) days prior to the meeting and include name and address of the participant, group affiliation, if and when appropriate, and the topic to be addressed. Requests shall be directed to the office of the Health Commissioner. Requests will then be forwarded to the Board Chairperson and shall be subject to his/her approval.
  
  
• If the above time frame is not possible, the public will have until the “call the meeting to order “to register his/her agenda item(s) on the sign in sheet. The sign in sheet(s) will be collected and requests for agenda items will be presented to the Board Chairperson. Requests shall be subject to his/her approval.
  


• The agenda may be modified, if applicable, with approval by the board.
  
  

A period for public participation at the beginning of every regular meeting of the Board shall be for comments with regard to items on the agenda for that regular meeting. The presiding officer of each Board meeting at which public participation is permitted shall administer the rules of the Board to the public for their conduct.

The presiding officer shall be guided by the following rules:

A. Public participation shall be permitted as indicated on the order of business and at the discretion of the presiding officer.

B. Anyone having a legitimate interest in the actions of the Board may participate during the public portion of a meeting.

C. Attendees must register their intention to participate in the public portion of the meeting upon their arrival at the meeting (see sign-in sheet).

D. Participants must be recognized by the presiding officer and will be requested to preface their comments by an announcement of their name, address, and group affiliation, if and when appropriate.

E. Each statement made by a participant shall be limited to three (3) minutes duration, unless extended by the presiding Board officer.

F. No participant may speak more than once on the same topic.

G. To ensure that all interested parties have an opportunity to speak, please be brief and limit your comments to one topic.

H. All statements shall be directed to the presiding Board officer; no person may address or question Board members individually.

I. The Board will not respond to comments made during the public participation periods unless it is necessary to ask a clarifying question, correct a factual error, or provide specific factual information in answer to a direct question.

J. The presiding officer may:

    1. interrupt, warn, or terminate a participant's statement when the statement is too lengthy, personally directed, abusive, obscene, or    
    irrelevant;

    2. request any individual to leave the meeting when that person does not observe reasonable decorum;

    3. request the assistance of law enforcement officers in the removal of a disorderly person when that person's conduct interferes with
    the orderly progress of the meeting;

    4. call for a recess or an adjournment to another time when the lack of public decorum so interferes with the orderly conduct of the
    meeting as to warrant such action;

    5. Waive these rules.