PORT TOWNSEND — The Jefferson County commissioners’ chairman said he may propose eliminating the public comment period at meetings — even though he would prefer to keep it intact — to avoid paying the expenses of challenging a lawsuit that claims the elected body’s policy regarding input from the public violates the First Amendment.
The lawsuit — filed Thursday in Clallam County Superior Court by Mats Mats Bay resident Mike Belenski, who just three days earlier won a free speech case against the county that resulted in it removing its ordinance governing the size of political signs — alleges that the commission violates citizens’ First Amendment rights by prohibiting comments it considers to be “personal attacks” or derogatory.
Chairman David Sullivan, who called the lawsuit “frivolous,” said that he and the other two commissioners will discuss Monday how they should respond to it.
One of the options he said he is considering is to eliminate the public comment period — which allows people to speak on issues of concern to them at the beginning of the meeting — all together in order to avoid paying the legal fees which he thinks the county can’t afford.
Public comment periods — which, unlike public hearings, are not limited to a specific law being proposed — are not required by law.
“It puts us in a position of an all-or-nothing it sounds like,” Sullivan said of the lawsuit.
“And, I’m torn,” he added.
“I want to limit the financial liability of the county in this tough budget time.
“I want to keep the public comment period open.”
Commissioners in court
The commissioners will have to appear in court Friday to present their argument against the case, according to court documents.
Sullivan said he is considering eliminating comment periods because he thinks it would make the lawsuit null and void.
And, since public comment isn’t required by law, he said, such a move couldn’t be challenged.
Sullivan said he would rescind the public comment period if the other commissioners were on board.
Belenski, a welding engineer, could not be reached for comment.
Forums, e-mail
Sullivan said that if the public comment period is removed, the commissioners would hold more town hall meetings to give residents forums for expressing their opinions on issues of concern to them.
Comments also can be sent to the commissioners through e-mail, he said.
The lawsuit is signed by three other Jefferson County residents — James Fritz, Larry Carter and Joe D’Amico — but Belenski is the sole plaintiff.
Rights infringed upon
It clams that public comment speakers’ First Amendment rights are “being impeded and infringed upon simply because they mention the name of an elected or appointed county official, or because Chairman Sullivan has made a whimsical determination that decorum has been violated.”
Sullivan said that he was surprised by the new lawsuit. He defended the commission’s public comment policy, which allows him as chairman to interrupt a speaker he believes isn’t being civil or who is attacking a person’s character, as a means of maintaining decorum during meetings.
“I will not tolerate character assassination of people who aren’t there to defend themselves,” he said, adding that the policy doesn’t prevent anyone from criticizing a person or policy if it is done “responsibly.”
Personal attacks
The lawsuit says that no personal attacks have been made by public comment speakers who were told they violated the rules.
Sullivan, who has been chairman for about a year, said violations of the policy don’t occur frequently.
He said he recalls interrupting Belenski only once to remind him of the rules while he was speaking during public comment.
Sullivan said that happened during the commission’s Nov. 23 meeting. Belenski, he said, was one of several people criticizing the policy for limiting what they can say about individuals.
The public comment policy allows Sullivan to have a person removed from a meeting if the person continues to violate the rules after being reminded of them.
Sullivan said it has never come to that.
Concerning Belenski’s lawsuit about political signs, the county decided to pay him $350 for attorney costs and $1 in punitive damages after it agreed that the political sign ordinance was unconstitutional.
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Reporter Tom Callis can be reached at 360-417-3532 or at tom.callis@peninsuladailynews.com.
