Citizens Communication Guidelines
For the purposes of Citizens’ Communications and public hearings conducted by the Board of Managers, the following guidelines apply:
1. Any person may speak during (a) the Citizens’ Communication portion of any Central Health Board of Managers meeting at which Citizens’ Communication appears on the agenda or (b) any public hearing that is conducted by the Central Health Board of Managers.
2. In advance of speaking, an individual must complete a sign-in sheet that includes the person’s name, address and group being represented, if applicable. The individual must also provide a brief description of the topic or matter on which the individual intends to speak, if the topic or matter does not relate to an item on the agenda. At the individual’s option, he or she may provide a telephone number and email address as well.
3. The Chairperson will call individuals to speak in the order in which they are listed on the sign-in sheet.
4. Each individual has a limit of three (3) minutes .
5. Each individual may address the Board only one time during any particular Citizens’ Communication or the particular public hearing.
6. An individual may not “donate” his or her three minutes or any part thereof to another individual who desires to speak.
7. An individual does not have the right to speak if he or she signs in after Citizens’ Communication or the public hearing is closed. Public hearings will be closed once the last individual who has signed-in has spoken.
8. Depending on the number of individuals wishing to speak, the Chairperson may, in his or her discretion, impose additional procedural guidelines on the time and/or manner of speaker’s presentations to ensure the efficient and orderly conduct of the meeting.
Due to the restrictive nature of the Open Meetings Act, the Board is restricted from discussing any item that is not included, or posted as an item involving discussion, on the meeting agenda. For this reason, Citizens’ Communication is usually a one-way communication vehicle.
