The Covington City Board of Commissioners voted 3 to 2 in favor of instating several reforms to its public comment procedures at its legislative meeting Tuesday evening.
The changes took two forms: an ordinance establishing rules of conduct for public commenters and a municipal order granting the chair of the meeting, usually the mayor, with certain powers to enforce them. Votes for both the ordinance and the municipal order fell along the same lines: Mayor Joe Meyer, Commissioner Ron Washington and Commissioner Steve Hayden voted in favor, whereas Commissioners Tim Downing and Shannon Smith voted against.
“These rules offer direction on the appropriate manner of addressing this body. That’s what they do in order to facilitate effective communication,” Meyer said. “Unfortunately, we had our experiences that taught us that we need to lay out these rules so that we can help those who want to come before us to better understand the way to address the commission.”
The new code of conduct establishes the following rules:
- Public commenters must wait to be addressed by the meeting’s presiding officer (usually the mayor) before speaking
- Commenters must obey the directions of the presiding officer about when and how long they are allowed to speak
- Everyone must respect everyone in attendance, whether they agree or disagree with speakers’ comments
- Speakers cannot make personal, impertinent, profane or slanderous remarks to any member of the commission, city staff or member of the public in attendance
- Speakers cannot verbally or physically threaten, intimidate or bully members of the commission, city staff or members of the public in attendance
- Speakers cannot use hateful epithets or demeaning language based on a person’s race, religion, sexual orientation, ethnicity, gender or disability
- Speakers cannot use profanity or obscenity, generally
- Audience members would not be allowed to applaud, cheer, jeer, boo, shout or heckle
- Speakers may not attack or question the motives of others at the meeting
An accompanying municipal order allows the presiding officer of the meeting, usually the mayor, to instruct police to escort a speaker from the commission chambers if they become disruptive. The meeting’s officer can also disallow the displaying of signs and other paraphernalia. Finally, the meeting’s chair can mandate groups of speakers appoint a spokesperson to speak on their behalf rather than having multiple people repeat the same viewpoint.
In a previous meeting, Downing had proposed an amendment that would have loosened some of the powers invested in the meeting’s chair by the municipal orders, but these amendments were voted down.
The changes closely followed a recent attempt by some Covington residents to convince the commission to pass a resolution supporting a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip, which at times led to tense exchanges between the commissioners and speakers.
Although much of the agitation around the issue of the ceasefire resolution has subsided, several figures who had advocated for a ceasefire spoke out against the new measures at the meeting. Many claimed that the rules undermined the public’s right to free speech.
“This is clearly an attempt to expand what I think are draconian measures to twist the words of constituents [to] limit free speech that you don’t like,” said Mohammad Ahmad, a Covington resident who first brought the idea of the ceasefire resolution to the commission.
Other speakers echoed similar sentiments.
Although freedom of speech is guaranteed broadly under the U.S. Constitution, Kentucky state law does not grant individual Kentuckians the right to address local bodies in public meetings, even though boards and city councils cannot bar people from attending public meetings. Moreover, municipalities are not required to allow public comments, although many do.
As a retort to the speakers’ comments, Meyer pointed to a code of conduct passed in 2005 in Independence, which established many of the same rules of conduct as Tuesday’s ordinance (read the Independence ordinance here).
To hammer the point home, Washington asked a series of questions to the city’s Assistant Solicitor Frank Schultz, who represented the city’s legal department at the meeting.
“When you review this, is it your determination that we’re violating the Constitution [or] freedom of speech?” Washington asked Schultz.
“No,” Schultz said, characterizing the commission meetings as limited public fora.
“As such, we’re allowed viewpoint neutral regulations,” Schultz explained, “and, as long as they’re reasonable in the circumstances, I believe these rules, they conform with that.”
“As you reviewed this, does it prevent people from complaining about a police officer?” Washington asked.
“No,” Schultz answered.
“Does it prevent people from disputing how we spend their tax money?” Washington asked.
“No,” Schultz answered.
“Does it prevent people from telling us that they’re not happy about the job we’re performing?” Washington asked.
“No,” Schultz said.
“It doesn’t prevent any of that?” Washington said.
“No, sir,” Schultz said.
After this, Downing attempted to make this case for his amendments to no avail. The commission cast its vote for the municipal order first and then for the ordinance later in the meeting; both yielded a 3-2 vote.
The next meeting of the Covington Board of Commissioners will take place on Tuesday, April 30 beginning at 6 p.m. at Covington City Hall on Pike Street.