All About Public Comment in Chapel Hill

A person addresses a meeting of the Chapel Hill Town Council. Source: The Town of Chapel Hill.

It’s one of Chapel Hill’s many Town Council meetings. After a roll call to figure out who among the Town Council members is there and some announcements and proclamations, people from among the audience begin to step up to the microphone and briefly deliver statements on all sorts of issues. This is the public comment period, where Chapel Hillians get the opportunity to present their concerns to the town council.

Public comment is found in normally scheduled town business meetings, where speakers also often deliver petitions asking for the Council to take certain actions. However, the town also has work sessions on specific issues, such as one about changes to land use management on March 13. These meetings may not permit public comment.

Sometimes, the amount of time available for public comment is limited, but it also happens that the time allotted for public comment is not filled by all the available speakers. Usually, each person can speak for up to 3 minutes, but in times of high interest the Town can limit speakers to 2 minutes. This has happened in the past, such as when many speakers came to a meeting to express opinions on the conflict between Israel and Hamas.

People sign up to speak in front of the Town Council starting around 30 minutes before the beginning of the Town Council meeting and ending at the end of the public comment period. Occasionally, the public comment period might be divided based on what issue people are there to speak on, such as in the aforementioned public comment about Israel and Hamas. Typically, speakers are identified by their full name, but not always.

“We encourage people to provide their first and last name for accurate recordkeeping and calling on people accurately,” Town Clerk Sabrina Oliver told the Carolina Political Review by e-mail. “However, one can speak without sharing their name. We’ve had one experience where a speaker didn’t want to be seen on the video. We coordinated with the AV crew to get a wide angle shot from the back of the council chamber.”

For people who can’t or don’t want to speak at a Town Council meeting, there are also other ways to get a message across. It’s also possible to e-mail the Town Council, which has an inbox whose e-mails become viewable not only to the Council itself but also to the public at large. Furthermore, statements can be read at public comment on behalf of somebody else.

The Town Council does optionally track the demographics of people who speak at public comment. This includes questions on race, gender, language, and age. The results of this survey aren’t publicly available, but in nearby Carrboro, public comment has attracted criticism for being dominated by homeowners, usually wealthy, and older residents.

However, there are restrictions on what can go on during the public comment period. According to Coates’ Canons, a law blog focusing on North Carolina, local governments can place restrictions on the time allotted for public comment, whether speakers alternate between positions, and “order and decorum.” In Chapel Hill, that last provision means that signs are not permitted at Town Council meetings, and people in the audience cannot clap or otherwise show support or opposition for speakers in disruptive ways.

“A misconception is that a speaker may think they can ask and receive an answer on the floor, or have a dialogue with Council members, staff or presenters,” Oliver said.

It’s still an active question how much public comment and other opportunities for the Town Council to hear citizens’ opinions influence their decision-making. This question has been researched by academics, who have generally concluded that public opinion matters more on issues that are salient to voters. For instance, this predicts that the Chapel Hill Town Council is going to be highly responsive to voters on priority issues in Chapel Hill such as racial justice and duplexes. According to Public Policy Polling, 59% of the survey considered housing a “very important” issue in Chapel Hill.

This generally paints a picture of public comment as being an important way for Chapel Hill voters to make their voices heard. Although the demographics of public comment probably aren’t representative, Chapel Hill has unusually high local political engagement, which suggest that local issues are salient to voters. At town council meetings that the Carolina Political Review has reported on, the Town Council has seemed highly engaged during the public comment period, and multiple issues have gotten a number of speakers invested in them