Article published Jul 8, 2007

Three-minute limit becomes election issue in Great Falls election

By RICHARD ECKE

Tribune Staff Writer

City Commissioner Bill Beecher this week defended the City Commission's controversial three-minute speaking limit for members of the public at the end of its meetings.

City officials have been the target of sometimes harsh criticism over the policy, which has resulted in some speakers being removed from the commission chambers by police.

Beecher said critics of the rule make it sound like the city "has invented the three-minute rule," but he said it is commonly used in other Montana cities and around the country by a variety of government agencies.

He said the city of Billings uses it "in their entire meeting," while Great Falls uses it only for the public comment period, which the city calls Petitions and Communications. People don't encounter specific time limits when speaking at public hearings.

At Tuesday night's City Commission meeting, Beecher said the city of Atlanta allows only four people to offer public comments at its meetings.

"It's not something that we've invented to shut off comment from the public," Beecher said. "Please don't feel that the city of Great Falls came up with this rule out of the air."

Cascade County has a seven-minute time limit for members of the public speaking at its commission meetings.

At the July 3 City Commission meeting, Mike Witsoe, a frequent critic of the city, criticized Mayor Dona Stebbins, whom Witsoe supported during her 2005 election battle with incumbent Mayor Randy Gray.

"You had someone arrested out of here," Witsoe said.

At the June 5 commission meeting, Stebbins asked plain-clothed police officers to remove Humane Society supporter Susan Overfield. Overfield had exceeded her three-minute limit and did not formally ask Stebbins for more time.

Since the Overfield incident, Ron Gessaman of Great Falls suggested that police officers attending the meeting wear uniforms so the public won't be confused about who they are.

At Tuesday's meeting, Beecher noted Stebbins usually gives people extra time if they request it. Stebbins later said she would have granted Overfield more time if she had asked for it in a proper manner.

Overfield said later that she wasn't familiar with the time-limit procedure and did not know the men removing her were police officers.

Police allege that she punched one officer below the belt during the fracas. Overfield was charged with misdemeanor assault and disorderly conduct.

A trial for Overfield is scheduled for 10:30 a.m. Sept. 14 in Great Falls Municipal Court.

Cable Channel 7's taped coverage of the City Commission meeting showed views of the mayor during the dispute, and included sounds of Overfield's objections while she was being removed from the room.

Frequent city critic John Hubbard also has been removed from commission meetings several times.

The City Commission's approach to public comments has become an early issue in the Great Falls city election, in which Stebbins and Commissioner Diane Jovick-Kuntz are seeking re-election.

All three of Stebbins' mayoral challengers, Ed McKnight, Susan Kahn and Larry Steele, have criticized the city's three-minute rule.

"I just think that's ridiculous," McKnight said. "An elected representative should listen to what's being said."

Kahn said residents should not have to face "prejudice, intimidation or limits to free speech" at commission meetings.

Steele said he objects to "the way that the mayor has been conducting the meetings."

"They (residents) think their First Amendment rights have been stripped from them," Steele added. The First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution says in part that Congress "shall make no law ... abridging the freedom or speech, or of the press."

However, city officials argue they have the right to keep their meetings safe and orderly, including the application of a time limit.