The Monroe County Board of Health is one step closer to developing an official public comment policy.
The board debated public access and comment content policy ideas Thursday. One proposed idea was to have a sign-up form for online commenters, but some board members expressed concern that would make the overall process more difficult.
The discussion largely revolved around public comment content. Board president Dawne “Aurora” DiOrio said commenters should refrain from profanity and isolated personal insults against individual board members. The board agreed that public comments should be respectful, targeted at the board overall, and focused on items that are within the board’s scope.
The board agreed having public comment at the beginning of a meeting, limited to three minutes per speaker, would be acceptable. That is a similar policy to other boards and committees in Monroe County.
Board member Lee McKinley said the final draft should encourage public participation.
“I think the general tenor of this should be we welcome it, we want comments,” McKinley said. “We're not trying to find ways to not get comments, and I think, you know, some of this has a negativity to it.”
A second draft of the policy will be ready for the board’s July 14 meeting, which will be held at the Nat U Hill room in the Monroe County Courthouse.
No member of the public provided in-person comment or virtual comment during Thursday’s meeting.
The board will also draft a definitive timeline and statement regarding the closure of the Futures Clinic, which will be read to the Monroe County Council at a future meeting.