Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky (courtesy Creative Commons)

Yaroslavsky wrote a blog post discussing his dislike for a L.A. Times story about his proposal to cut back on the amount of time spent listening to people at Board of Supervisors meetings.

In the blog entry, Yaroslavsky said that articles about the proposal “lacked balance, context and, at times, accuracy, thus serving mostly to misinform people about what I’d hoped to achieve.”

Yaroslavsky said the idea that he and the Board of Supervisors think that at their meetings “the public should be neither seen nor heard” is a resulting misconception.

Yaroslavsky said he particularly disliked coverage in the L.A. Times that claimed that Yaroslavsky thought people talked too much. He said the opposite is true and that he would like the public to be more engaged.

Yaroslavsky said that what the bill will prevent is the few individuals who come to meetings and speak about multiple agenda items: two minutes on sometimes dozens of different issues and three additional minutes at the end of the meeting on non-agenda matters.

Under the Ralph M. Brown Act, Yaroslavsky claims government bodies have the right to impose limits on public comment. So, Yaroslavsky’s proposal would give each speaker a three-minute time block to discuss their agenda items all at one time.

Some people, however, are protesting the proposal on grounds that if violates free speech laws and that it is the supervisors who make the meetings long, not those who speak at the meeting as Yaroslavsky claimed.

The L.A. Times article specifically referenced a Jan. 10 meeting to demonstrate how the board wastes time. The meeting started 23 minutes late and then it took the board 23 minutes to read the names of around 60 people in who’s honor the meeting would be adjourned. The board also spent almost an hour on non-legislative items such as certificates of recognition.

The proposal has been sent to county lawyers for review. Critics argue that it threatens free speech.
 
"This is our only opportunity to talk to you," Lynne Plambeck told the L.A. Times. "And so this idea that you're going to limit speaking time on some sort of arbitrary basis that really isn't very well explained is very concerning to us."

Reach executive producer Hannah Madans here.