18138_Authority_Feb

42 The Authority | February 2025 The court reasoned that the operative factor in a First Amendment retaliatory arrest claim is the motivation for the arrest – was it in response to his criticism of council members or motivated by a desire to extract retribution for prior suits, or was it truly motivated only by his disruptive behavior at the meeting? Can the authority board adopt rules and regulations regarding public comment? Yes, the Sunshine Act specifically states that “nothing in this act shall prohibit the agency from adopting, by official action, the rules and regulations necessary for the conduct of its meetings and the maintenance of order.” 65 Pa.C.S. § 710. For example, a court has approved an agency’s policy of limiting comments only to current business of that agency. Baravordeh v. Borough Council of Prospect Park , 706 A.2d 362 (Pa. Cmwlth. 1998). A court also approved an agency’s policy of enforcing a time restriction for each public commenter, as long as the restriction does not extend to the content of the speech. This is an example of an appropriate time, place, and manner restriction on speech. Galena v. Leone , 638 F.3d 186 (3d Cir. 2011). Three to five minute limits are common. What recommendations do you have for maintaining order during meetings? Most importantly, your board and staff should have a plan as to how to handle these situations. This can include adopting, by resolution of the board, rules of decorum to govern public meetings. These rules should be applied uniformly to all meeting attendees. If a speaker becomes disruptive, you can first remind them of the authority’s rules of decorum and note their violation. If the disruption continues, call a time out – the board can take a recess following appropriate motion, second, and vote of majority of the board. The chair could instead declare that the meeting “stand at ease,” which under Robert’s Rules, allows for a brief break in the meeting while board members remain in the meeting room. If, after the break, the speaker remains disruptive, inform them that they may be removed from the meeting if they do not come into order. If the disruption continues beyond this point, request that the speaker be removed from the meeting. As noted above, permanent bans on this individual in the future are legally questionable, but disruptive members of the public may be ejected from this specific meeting under certain circumstances. What tips do you have for handling virtual public meetings? Due to COVID-19 and the pandemic, the use of online video sharing forums to hold public meetings surged. Though public meetings conducted online do not involve actual face-to-face contact like in-person meetings, things can still easily get out of hand. Just as for in-person meetings, you should have a plan for virtual meetings. As described above, you should still have rules of decorum for virtual meetings which are adopted by resolution and applied uniformly. You should assign one person as the “moderator” or “host” of the virtual meeting. We recommend that you mute all participants upon their entrance into the virtual meeting to avoid a free-for-all.