[HISTORY: Adopted by the Board of Supervisors of the Township of
Washington 6-19-2006 by Res. No. 2006-16.
Amendments noted where applicable.]
The Washington Township, Berks County Board of Supervisors, in order
to establish a level of civility and promote an atmosphere of reasoned expression
of ideas, is promulgating rules and regulations for its Board meetings.
A.
The Supervisors have observed that much of the discourse
in their meetings is repetitive and redundant, and that the discussion on
some issues persists nearly perpetually because a party or parties continue
to "beat a dead horse" until there is nothing left to say.
B.
The party presenting the issue is often not the "injured"
party, is often not the property owner of the property in question, and often
has no standing in the matter of discussion or on the agenda.
C.
The Board is a strong advocate of "free speech" and wishes
to promote an atmosphere of reasoned expression of ideas.
The Washington Township Board of Supervisors establishes the following
rules and regulations regarding conduct at public meetings:
A.
A period of public comment shall be held at each regularly
scheduled meeting. Public participation shall be convened at the conclusion
of the regular meeting of the Board of Supervisors and shall be limited to
five minutes or less.
B.
All those in attendance and all those who present issues
and all who comment will be expected to adhere to a code of conduct established
by the Board as follows:
(1)
No personal attacks of the Supervisors, employees of
Washington Township, members of the audience in attendance or any other kind
of personal attack will be tolerated.
(2)
No name calling of the Supervisors, employees of Washington
Township, members of the audience in attendance or any other kind of name
calling will be tolerated.
(3)
No shouting. All parties wishing to comment must wait
their turn and must be called up/recognized by the Chairman before making
comments.
(4)
Discuss issues, not personalities. Comments should be
clear, concise, relevant and to the point. Comments relating to personalities
will not be tolerated.
C.
Placement on the agenda, special requests. To be placed
on the agenda for the night of a scheduled Board meeting, those with issues
that wish to come before the Board need to contact the Washington Township
Office and write, fax or e-mail such a request no later than Monday, 12:00
noon before the meeting in question and include a brief description (no more
than a short paragraph) of the issue in question. Telephone requests will
not be accepted.
D.
Presenting issues/agenda items to the Board at a meeting:
(1)
Any person wishing to comment should, when recognized
by the Chairman, proceed to the meeting room podium and stand, state his/her
name and explain his/her interest in the matter at hand prior to commenting.
(2)
The first person who placed the issue on the agenda will
be provided the opportunity to present the issue to the Board. This first
presenter, or his/her representative(s), shall be allowed a period of time
not to exceed 10 minutes in order to make said presentation. Additional presenters
on the same topic wishing to make public comment will be allotted five (5)
minutes in order to make said presentation.
(3)
The person(s) who present the issue to the Board must
have standing to represent the person(s) having the issue by being the property
owner or representative of the property owner (architect, engineer, surveyor,
or other).
(4)
A resident who is not a property owner who has an issue
with someone in the Township would need to show that the Board has jurisdiction,
or at least an interest, in the matter.
(5)
Those in attendance may respond to the issue presented
when recognized by the Chairman of the Board. Such response shall be limited
as follows: a) A party having a direct interest in the issue presented shall
limit his/her response to five minutes; b) a party who has no direct interest
in the issue presented but who wishes to make a comment(s) shall limit his/her
response to two minutes.
E.
Supervisors' response:
(1)
If the issue is one of a clear-cut violation of a Township
ordinance and/or a matter in which the Board has jurisdiction, the Board may
act at that meeting, table the matter for further investigation or study,
or refer the matter to the appropriate officials from within or outside the
Township.
(2)
The Chairman, or the majority of the Board, may, if in
their opinion these rules are not complied with, terminate the discussion
rights of any individual for either the issue at hand or for the remainder
of the meeting.
(3)
Once an issue had been terminated by the Chairman or
the majority of the Board, it shall be at the Board's discretion whether
or not to address the issue at a subsequent Board meeting.
(4)
Should an individual's request for time to be heard
at the Board's meeting not be received in time to be placed on the agenda,
and should the individual's issue be of such import that time is of the
essence, such applicant may request an exception to the deadline (Monday noon
before a Board meeting) by contacting the Secretary/Manager who will pass
on the individual's request to the Supervisors. A quick decision may
be rendered by the Supervisors at their discretion.
F.
Recording devices. Meetings of the Board of Supervisors
are open and public. As such, citizens have the right to record the proceedings.
In fairness to all parties, and in an attempt to lend order to the process,
recordings shall be made only upon compliance with the following rules:
(1)
Any individual wishing to record a meeting must state
so early in the beginning of the meeting when the question is asked, "Is anyone
taping the meeting?"
(2)
No device, either video camera or otherwise, shall have
artificial lighting. Video equipment should be set up in the rear of the room
and shall not come any closer than the last row of chairs.
