Aug. 25 Daily News editorial

Is the Longview City Council being unfair and unresponsive if it tells citizens they are limited to three minutes during the public comment period at council meetings?

Longview resident Ken Spring appears to think so. In a reader commentary Sunday, Spring wrote about the many things he’d hoped to bring to the council’s attention at its previous meeting. It was a long list that did not fit into the three-minute time limit allowed for public comment.

Spring said the mayor, by enforcing the time limit, was telling him he was “out of line bringing those concerns to the City Council meeting.”

Hardly. The mayor was doing what he needs to do — and is his responsibility — run efficient meetings that accomplish the city’s business.

The truth is, the way local government operates, citizens who have concerns about city operations and policies are not limited to those three minutes. They have many other avenues for being heard.

First, they have elected representatives who are easily available by phone, e-mail or letter. Those members of the council are elected to represent the city’s residents and respond to their concerns. If the council members see those issues as requiring official action of the council they can bring them forward for consideration at a meeting as official agenda items.

In addition, there are city staff members responsible for various aspects of city government operations. They too are available to answer questions and address concerns raised by members of the public.

As was shown in a Daily News story earlier this year, the Longview City Council meetings have become lengthy affairs, often lasting more than three hours.

The agendas are filled with important and timely business and it would be irresponsible to force the people with issues before the council to wait until late into the evening to have their issues addressed.

These often are matters that have worked their way to the council’s attention through workshops, committees, and yes, concerns raised by the public. Issues not on that meeting’s agenda should not and cannot be allowed to unreasonably distract or delay the official business at hand.

If the three-minute time limit for general public comments is not enforced, or is enforced in an inconsistent way, the meetings can become venting sessions for people with narrow agendas.

The meetings can become that and little more. In addition, the council often is unprepared to deal with or respond to things not on the agenda.

Spring and others who take advantage of the public comment opportunity play an important role. They are participating in the democratic process. But asking people to abide by the rules in making their comments is not only necessary, it’s also the responsible thing to do.

It should be added that another avenue for bringing concerns forward is The Daily News. With letters to the editor and reader commentaries citizens like Spring can have their concerns heard widely by city officials and the public. Which he did.

And they can do so without interrupting or delaying the City Council’s official business.