Council members say they are increasingly hearing people use racist, anti-Semitic or otherwise offensive language.
Members of the public seeking tocould soon have fewer opportunities to be heard.
The discussion comes as violations of City Council meeting speaker guidelines are becoming more common. “I want the public to continue to speak, but I want us to have some ability to shut down that type of language because it keeps coming,” said council member Carolyn King Arnold, who is the council’s mayor pro tem. “It would be different if it was a one-timer, but when you see a pattern, I think we need to begin to stand up and protect the integrity of our meetings.”
During the open microphone session Wednesday, conservative online personality Alex Stein mocked Johnson and the council speaker’s rules while playing a soundtrack making it sound like he was passing gas. Stein spoke until his time limit expired and wasn’t asked to leave the podium by Johnson. “I think what we’re concerned about here is our meetings, not just being disrupted in terms of the time, but also our residents watching on TV or listening and having these meetings become a platform for foolishness and silliness,” Johnson said. “That’s just not what we’re supposed to be trying to do here.”