WILMINGTON — Should the New Hanover Board of County Commissioners move the public comments portion of public meetings to the beginning of meetings instead of requiring citizens to wait sometimes several hours before having a chance to address their representatives? For Dante Murphy, Pender County NAACP president the answer is yes.
Murphy sent an email to county officials Thursday morning expressing his concern with the current practice of requiring residents to sit through several hour-long meetings.
“The intent of this email is that the county commissioners place the time for public comment at the beginning of regular meetings as opposed to the end. New Hanover County is one of few counties who hold public comment until the end of meetings,” Murphy said.
Murphy believes that requiring residents to wait until the end of the meeting to speak on items not on the current agenda deters public engagement.
New Hanover County stands alone among its peers when it comes to public comment. Pender County, Brunswick County, the City of Wilmington, and the rest of New Hanover County’s municipalities allow public comments during the first portion of public meetings.
“Public comment at the end of meetings is a deterrent to citizens who must sign up prior to the meeting and then sit through the entire meeting to make comments. All county business is important to the public, but hard-working citizens should be afforded the opportunity to manage their time without giving up privileges afforded by the county,” Murphy said.
County Commission Chairman Woody White said he was not aware of when the decision was made to put the public comment portion of the meetings toward the end, and was not aware of it ever being an item of concern.
“I do not know when that decision was made, but it was many years ago, prior to my arrival on the board, and it’s never been discussed as far as I know. The comments are for non-agenda items. For agenda items that are public hearings, the public signs up for those and are heard when the item is considered,” White said.
Any resident is able to address their representatives during a County Commission meeting for three minutes, typically, residents are asked to sign in before the meeting begins so the board knows how many, if any people want to address the commissioners.
Michael Praats can be reached at [email protected]
