Simple strategies for elected boards for managing public comments

Having a voice is an essential element of democracy. We see this in action when citizens speak at meetings held in public, whether to the board for their schools or community college or their city council. For community members, being able to comment during these meetings provides an opportunity to engage with the board, have a say on decisions and influence policy.

Offering public comment periods is often not at the board’s discretion, as many open meetings laws outline these requirements . But how publicly elected boards allow comments can either encourage healthy participation or cause confusion or frustration. In fact, questions around how to solicit and collect comments were a significant topic of discussion at a recent Diligent customer conference.

So, let’s examine why public comments are valuable to boards, some challenges with managing requests to speak and how procedures and technology can ease handling public participation.

How do boards and councils benefit from public comments?

For many boards and councils, allowing public comments is not an option: as noted above, it can be a legal requirement. However, publicly elected boards have some leeway when it comes to how to solicit and collect public comments. Here are some of the benefits of allowing public comment to take place during your open meetings:

Strengthening transparency and accountability

Community members want to be assured that their representatives are hearing their issues and concerns and taking them into account. Every public comment captured in the record sends the message that elected officials are working to serve their constituents. And documented comments show that different perspectives were considered, no matter the voting results.

Fostering community engagement

Elected representatives should look for opportunities to create dialogue with whomever they serve. A regular public comment option (whether oral, written or both) encourages citizens and students to be an active part of their community. Boards often turn to technology to support the process of requesting, approving and scheduling public comment, and the same technology can be an effective strategy for building community engagement in other ways.

"Public comments are a legal obligation for a school board meeting, but trustees and district staff have the opportunity to build trust with their communities and families by taking extra steps to ensure the process not only complies with the law but also makes people feel welcome and respected." — Tiffany Dunne-Oldfield, Associate Executive Director of Communications and Marketing, Texas Association of School Boards

Informing decision-making

Effective decision-making requires multiple types of input, from statistics to documented best practices to institutional knowledge and beyond. By allowing members of your community to share their ideas and factors around an issue, the board or council can be better assured it is taking into account the information needed to make the right choices. Input or feedback from the public adds a facet to fully understanding an issue in your community.

Supporting conflict resolution

Having members of the community who feel unheard can create a toxic environment where resentment percolates. Even when a topic is heated, it’s better for boards to be on the record as acknowledging diverging opinions.

Increasing meeting efficiency

Depending on how the public comment process is enabled, it can support the board’s efforts to run an efficient, effective meeting. Many boards opt to create an orderly system for accepting new public comments or requests to speak through a findable online form, for example.

What are the challenges of managing public comments?

For publicly elected boards, managing requests to speak and public comments can be complicated.

• Organizing public comments: Board members have to decide how to solicit and accept feedback and participation from constituents and stakeholders, which can involve creating or updating your policies on public comment. Requests to speak from groups (as opposed to an individual) can also add complexity.
• Accurate recording of comments in your meeting minutes: Logging any public comments accurately in the minutes can take time or be open to error if your board management solution doesn’t handle these inputs automatically.
• Managing a polarized environment: Public officials can be understandably wary of volatile speech which can be painful and make headlines. It can also leave the board flat-footed in how to respond.
• Managing misinformation: Like hostile comments or hate speech, misinformation can find a voice in public comments which go on the record. Board and council members may not be prepared to respond to or correct all misinformation on the spot.
• Ensuring inclusion and access: A public comment policy needs to be communicated to your community members so that they know they can submit a request to speak and participate in meetings, if approved.

Tips for administrators on managing public comments

There are a number of strategies boards can employ to manage public comments. Consider some of the reasons why you should standardize and simplify the comment process.

Establish an effective public comment policy that facilitates good organization and inclusion. Fountain-Fort Carson School District board have used automated processes to make public commenting more accessible and organized. The district uses its board management solution, Diligent Community, to manage public comments. Citizens can sign up to participate in public board meetings, and the software collects their contact information and topics, allowing the board administrator to approve, and then automatically notifies the individual if they have been approved to speak at the board meeting.

Allowing your community members to contribute comments asynchronously through technology can frequently be a great strategy to increase inclusion.

You may wish to limit each comment time to three minutes with the total public comment time limited, too (e.g. 30 minutes), to help ensure an efficient and productive meeting, as the board does have its work to do.

Ideally, the board should not respond during the public comment period; if a conversation happens and the topic was not on the agenda as a discussion item this can become an issue. Most boards will not engage with public comments beyond a “thank you and someone will follow-up with you, if appropriate”.

You could also allow public comments to be submitted in writing, and those comments might be read out at the meeting or can simply become part of the official meeting minutes.

Consider scheduling and commenting options that minimize the risk of meeting disruption. Realistically, an attendee who wishes to disrupt a meeting will find a way to do so. But the formal public comment process doesn't need to facilitate disruption. Opening a public comment period before the meeting and taking comments through your board management software allows the board to fulfill its commitment to democratic representation while encouraging respectful discourse.

Boards need to be prepared to react appropriately to disruptive moments; they can plan ahead by understanding the meeting rules and having scripted responses.

How Diligent Community helps you manage this easily

As a full-featured board management solution, Diligent Community has many features to support the board’s commitment to public participation:

Easy public participation with Request to Speak

• Simple to request: People can easily fill out a form to speak at meetings.
• Clear rules: Automatic replies include guidelines like time limits and code of conduct.
• Efficient management: Administrators can approve requests and add them to meeting minutes in advance, ensuring smooth meetings and accurate records.

Transparent and accessible information

• Public website: All board activities, including how to submit comments and past meeting minutes, are easily accessible to everyone.
• Builds trust: Sharing information openly helps build trust with the community.

Clear policies with Policy Publisher

• Easy policy adoption: The board can create or update policies outlining how to submit public comments.
• Keeps everyone informed: Clear policies ensure everyone knows the process for participating in meetings.

Managing public comments can be complicated and sometimes challenging, but with Diligent Community, it doesn’t have to be. We’re here to help you enhance this critical element of the democratic process, ensuring your board or council has the right resources to hear from your local citizens and stakeholders.