Council passes new public comment resolution

BONNERS FERRY — The Bonners Ferry City Council unanimously approved a motion Tuesday to add guidelines for public comment at city meetings.

Mayor Rick Alonzo told the Herald the resolution is in part to protect employees and to ensure claims against employees stop during public comment. Quoting the new resolution, he said a city employee’s supervisor and the mayor should be informed of the complaint, rather than airing out grievances during public comment.

Earlier this year the council agreed to update the meeting's statement that “individuals addressing the mayor and council during public comment should refrain from using that time to address the performance of or to make complaints about a specific employee.” 

This came after Adrienne Norris, a local blogger, used her public comment time at the Dec. 19, 2023, meeting to claim a Bonners Ferry police officer turned off his body camera. 

The resolution provides the standard guidelines for public comment including time limit and that the council is committed “to an atmosphere that promotes equal opportunity to be heard, civility, mutual respect, proper decorum and freedom from discrimination or harassment.”

Members of the public had concerns with two bullet points. One stipulating that comments cannot address matters currently before the city’s planning and zoning commissioner or matters that require due process including public hearing, enforcement actions and pending personnel disciplinary matters. The other stipulates that comments pertaining to the activities or performance of individual employees should be shared directly with the employee’s supervisor or the mayor.

Councilman Adam Arthur said the resolution is not an ordinance, so it is more of a request from council than actual law. 

During public comment, Jerry Higgs, a Bonners Ferry man, requested the council not approve the resolution, as he was concerned that the statement would limit comments regarding zoning concerns.

Also during public comment, Norris believed that this resolution would be a violation of the public’s free speech and would not allow dissenting viewpoints. 

City attorney Andrakay Pluid said the portion on planning in zoning has to do with quasi-judicial matters. 

“When you have planning and zoning making recommendations to the council, there are certain types of land use, where the council is not allowed to consider those outside a public hearing setting,” she said. “So for a member of the public to come and make a comment on a quasi judicial matter, could violate the rights of  the applicant or completely ruin this procedure here in front of the council and make that action illegal at the point that it gets to [the council] making a decision.” 

She added the intermingling of the council and quasi judicial matters can’t happen and is clear in Idaho Code. 

Councilman Ron Smith said any legal advice he will receive or accept will come from Pluid.

Pluid is also the Boundary County prosecutor. 

“Other than that, I don’t really care about that legal advice, because I’m only going to take [Pluid’s] advice,” he said. “I think it is well written and something we need to have for our meetings.” 

Councilwoman Val Thompson said she didn’t see how the new guidelines were stifling anybody's right to make a statement. 

“It talks about speakers being encouraged, and to practice civility and courtesy and to limit their comments to three minutes. I’m not sure where the issue is,” she said. 

“The issues we've run into and that have been a great challenge have been issues directed at employees themselves, not to the council,” she said. “[Council members] are public figures. Anybody can say what they want to towards us, and they do.” 

Norris said it was her understanding that the public can make any comment they want during their time, but that council could not respond. 

“We can say whatever we want in our three minutes, that’s our time to shine,” she said. 

Alonzo said the city doesn’t want the public to use the comment time to “bash” an employee when they aren’t able to defend themselves. 

“By bringing their name up in a public forum, you’re casting doubt upon them and their ability as you are here to complain,” he said.