By the time you read this I likely will have already made a strongly worded statement to the local city council about comments they made during their budget workshop. This will be the second time I will have addressed the council during the public section of the meeting.
While national politics are certainly important, many decisions that impact you each and every day are made at the local level. While the laws governing public meetings- such as a city council or water board meeting- do vary from state to state they all have a few things in common. They all require the agenda to be posted ahead of the meeting and they all require meeting to be open to the public in most cases. Most states allow for a time of public comment, but a few do not and even in states that allow it, it may not be required OR you may need to register in advance. So make sure you know the lay of the land as your first step in preparing to make comment.
It’s also important to note that members of the council/ board cannot respond directly to your comments, especially if you bring up a topic that was not on the meeting agenda. Doing so would be a violation of open meeting law. Some groups – such as my local city council- do have a section for council comments towards the end of the meeting. If you council you are addressing allows it, individual members can chose to respond to you during this time, but they are under no obligation to do so.
Can it be intimidating to address a council/ board? Yes, of course.
Is it important to make your local officials aware of your concerns? Absolutely.
If not you, who?