Question
If a city council establishes a protocol whereby the mayor may unilaterally decide to limit public comments on a topic to no more than 45 minutes, thereby preventing people present who wish to make public comments from speaking, is that compliant with the Brown Act?
Answer
The Brown Act allows for the adoption of “reasonable regulations” for public comment periods, “including, but not limited to, regulations limiting the total amount of time allocated for public testimony on particular issues and for each individual speaker.” Cal. Gov. Code § 54954.3.
The Attorney General has in the past concluded that five minutes per speaker is a reasonable amount of time, while a California court has held that a limit of two minutes per speaker per agenda item is sufficient. See 75 Ops. Cal. Atty. Gen. 89 (1992); Chaffee v. San Francisco Public Library Commission, 134 Cal. App. 4th 109 (2005).
We cannot say whether limiting the comment period to 45 minutes would be considered a reasonable regulation. But if the effect of the protocol is that many members of the public are not getting the opportunity to speak, you may want to raise this issue with the City Council.
Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner LLP is general counsel for the First Amendment Coalition and responds to FAC hotline inquiries. In responding to these inquiries, we can give general information regarding open government and speech issues but cannot provide specific legal advice or representation. No attorney-client relationship has been formed by way of this response.
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