Mike Korns spent about 10 minutes Monday night making his case against a resolution that would limit the ability of citizens and his fellow Allegheny Township supervisors to speak at monthly meetings.
“We are supposed to debate and deliberate on these motions,” he said. “We’re actually supposed to try to convince the other side of our point.”
The policy passed 2-to-1 anyway, with Korns against and Jamie Morabito and Jeff Pollick in favor.
If officials stick to the policy, it will be the last time Korns — or any supervisor — speaks for more than a minute during the board discussion portion of an action item, which comes after a motion is raised but before it’s voted on.
The supervisors also can get in three minutes of open-ended comment right before adjourning.
For attendees, the policy moved all comment to the beginning of the meeting with a five-minute limit per speaker.
The supervisors will respond once all speakers have gone to the podium, avoiding what the policy calls a “back and forth dialogue.”
Input should be directed to the entire board and not “delay the meeting or promote a political agenda,” the policy proclaims. Abusive, harassing or disruptive language is banned, too.
Morabito said it’s up to him as chairman whether a speaker is violating these rules on the tone and content of comments.
It’s time to streamline and “professionalize” meetings, he told an audience of about a dozen residents, which often last two hours and have become marked more by petty remarks than productive deliberation.
Despite the three-member board being all-Republican, Morabito and Pollick have effectively formed a legislative majority, with Korns usually being outvoted on contentious issues.
June appears to have been a breaking point for tensions between this bloc and Korns.
At the end of that month’s meeting, Morabito unveiled a $10,000 check signed by Korns, then-Supervisor John Rennick Steele and then-township Manager Gregory Primm that he and Pollick believe to have been improperly cut from township coffers. Morabito and Pollick voted to open an investigation, and summary charges were filed shortly after. They were dropped in September.
Morabito took a share of the blame for meetings being torn in “too many personal directions” as of late.
“We need to stay in tune with our agenda and be able to answer requests that the public has in a public forum,” he told TribLive on Wednesday.
Limits under scrutiny
Melissa Melewsky, media law counsel for the Pennsylvania NewsMedia Association, cited “problems throughout the policy,” including pieces of undefined, vague or possibly unconstitutional language.
The requirement to address the entire board would likely not survive legal scrutiny, she said, nor would restrictions on profanity or political speech.
It’s unusual for public officials to limit their own speaking time, she added.
In his argument against the parameters, Korns questioned whether a motion could overturn a resolution from 2005 that set meeting etiquette. Solicitor Craig Alexander shot down this contention, referencing state case law that found a motion holds the same weight as a resolution.
Korns was joined by several residents in his criticism of the policy.
“This just seems like another barrier to getting answers, hiding behind the rules,” said Lou Bertha, a frequent attendee, as he advocated for public comment periods at the start and at the end of meetings.
He also asked for a guarantee that questions will be answered, even if it’s at the following meeting.
Former Supervisor Tom Iseman lamented limits on people’s ability to interact with local officials.
“This is the form of government where we have the most direct form of contact with out legislators,” he said. “I can’t go and talk to my state Legislature and bring up my comments to the whole gallery.”
Addressing some of these qualms, Pollick encouraged residents to attend the agenda meeting, a discussion-based session that typically takes place the first Wednesday of each month, prior to the voting meeting on the second Monday.
“This is called a legislative meeting to take action on these items that we have discussed and thought about for four days,” Pollick said. “We’re trying to get out the word: If you want see the early items or you want to have a discussion, those are meetings where we’re not cutting you off.”
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It may prove challenging to keep legislative meetings in line with the new policy, though.
Shortly after passing the policy, the supervisors ran into the conundrum of whether they need to cede their time to the manager, police chief or public works director if they wish to speak.
And despite the prohibition on the supervisors having a conversation with, rather than responding to, residents, that line was frequently crossed during a test run Monday before the policy passed.
Nonetheless, Morabito said he’s confident everyone will get used to the new system.
“I think we pretty much have it dialed in right now, the way the format of the meeting is set,” he said. “But yes, if we need to adjust anything with the meetings, there would be another board vote on that.”