Space Oddity

On Tuesday, the new Biddeford City Council voted 8-1 (Mike Ready) to reduce the public comment portion of its municipal officers’ meetings from five minutes to three minutes.

The reaction from some members of the public would make you think that the council had just approved a trade agreement with North Korea.

Now mind you, this particular portion of the council meeting (Public Addressing the Council) has existed since the mid 1990s, but lately it has become a free-for-all hodgepodge of bitching, whining and moaning about things that the mayor and council have no control over.

Despite the new rule, any member of the public is still able to comment on any action item before the council before the council begins discussion on that topic among its members.

The Public Addressing the Council concept was adopted as sort of a bonus round, allowing citizens to speak about items that are not on the council’s agenda.

Some cities and towns, including Maine’s largest cities of Portland and Bangor, also have a portion of their council meetings set aside for public commentary about non-agenda items. Other towns and cities throughout Maine do not have such an accommodation for the public.

The city of Biddeford is not restricting public speech. They could have easily done away with the Public Addressing the Council portion of the meeting. Instead, the city is working diligently to restore civility and decorum in the Council Chambers.

After all, as Shakespeare wrote: “Brevity is the soul of wit.”

Or consider this: President Abraham Lincoln delivered the 272-word Gettysburg Address in less than three minutes, so if you can’t get your point across in three minutes, then you need to learn how to focus.

If you have a problem with the city’s snowplow service, or if you think ambulance rates are too high you should be able to deliver that message succinctly, and three minutes is plenty of time.

If three minutes was enough time for Abraham Lincoln to deliver a historic, landmark address to the nation, then it’s an ample amount of time for raising your gripe with the city council.

NOTE: Four members of the council, including Michael Ready and Laura Seaver, voted in favor an amendment to the overall order that would have kept the time limit at five minutes That amendment, however, failed.

Disclosure: I am married to Biddeford City Councilor Laura Seaver, and I want her home in enough time to massage my feet and fetch my dinner before bedtime.