Comment change protests fizzle out

CITY HALL — The swift backlash Mayor John Drayman received last week from recurrent speakers at city meetings over his decision to move the public comment period to the end of City Council agendas appeared to have fizzled out on Tuesday.

Just one of those half-dozen or so speakers, Herbert Molano, brought up the issue Tuesday, the first meeting in which Drayman’s new list of conduct and agenda rules took effect. But even then, he did not advocate for the time slot to be changed, instead requesting the meeting minutes reflect a one-line summation for each speaker who comes before the dais during the public comment period referred to as oral communications.

“There’s nothing frivolous about the issues that we bring, sometimes continually, so that it stays on the continuous awareness of the public,” said Molano, who often speaks at multiple City Hall meetings each Tuesday on multiple agenda items.

Beyond the divide in “letters to the editor” sent to the Glendale News-Press and the few e-mails city officials say they’ve received on the matter, Tuesday’s oral communication began shortly after 8 p.m. and ended about 40 minutes later with hardly a squeak of protest.

It was a relatively tranquil scene compared to Drayman’s announcement of the move last week, which drew cries of freedom-of-speech limitations and charges that he was attempting to muzzle what has become a growing stock of self-styled public advocates.

Margaret Hammond, a fixture of oral communications for years, who speaks on quality-of-life issues, called on people last week to oppose to the move, telling Drayman that “as voting citizens, we have a voice in more ways than one, just keep that in mind.”

But over the week, opposition from the group of about a half-dozen recurring speakers has appeared to soften. Some in the group even cautiously support it, especially after witnessing the quickened pace through the City Council’s business agenda Tuesday.

Nancy Kent, who frequently addresses the council on various political and environmental issues, said drawn out oral communications at the front of the agenda had contributed to lengthy meetings that at times discourages others from speaking on action items.

“I hope those days are gone,” she said.

During Drayman’s first full council meeting day as the mayor Tuesday, he repeatedly capped staff presentations and reminded speakers to be economical with their words.