Pittsburgh City Council considers legislation on public comments at meetings

Pittsburgh City Council is considering legislation that would clarify what people should — and should not — say when commenting at public meetings.

“It’s not our intention to censor people,” City Council solicitor Dan Friedson said Tuesday when the legislation was introduced.

Public comments are permitted at the start of regular meetings and committee meetings and during public hearings. People are given three minutes to speak and are asked to refrain from using profanity or making threats and to speak on subjects that “are or may be in front of City Council.”

While many people stick to those parameters, others use their allotted time to solicit private contracts, air personal grievances, speak on matters outside of council’s jurisdiction and levy personal attacks against council members and other public officials.

The proposed changes would aim to “make it clearer” that public comments should aim to remain relevant and appropriate, Friedson said.

“We feel people are owed a certain sense of decorum,” he said.

The meeting chairperson would have discretion to penalize speakers for “breach of decorum,” according to the legislation. Three such breaches would result in the speaker forfeiting any time they have left to speak.

The proposed legislation also would try to make it clear that only city residents are supposed to make public comments during meetings. While that’s the case under the existing rules, Friedson and Council President Theresa Kail-Smith said council has permitted people from outside city limits to speak on several important issues in the past.

“We’ve never turned down people who don’t live in the city,” Kail-Smith said.

The legislation also would rename several City Council committees.

The Committee on Public Safety would be renamed Committee on Public Safety and Wellness; the Committee on Public Works would be renamed the Committee on Public Works and Infrastructure; the Committee on Urban Recreation would be renamed the Committee on Recreation, Youth and Senior Services; and the Committee on Intergovernmental Affairs would be renamed the Committee on Intergovernmental and Educational Affairs.

City Council will hold a public hearing on the proposed legislation to gather input before a final vote, Kail-Smith said.