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Florissant Council5-4 Vote Will Limit Reading of Letters, E-Mails at Meetings
BY CAROL ARNETT
The Florissant City Council narrowly passed a bill that will limit the reading of letters and emails from the public at the council meetings. The bill requires four council members to agree to have a letter or email read. The original bill proposed would have required a majority of five council members to have an item read.
Councilman Tim Lee said the intent of the bill was not to prevent citizens from being heard. “The danger is that a council member could create a filibuster situation,” Lee said, by asking that several pieces of correspondence be read. “I don’t see any attempt her to stifle free speech.”
Council President Dan Sullivan asked City Attorney John Hessel for his input. “This is not a first amendment issue,” Hessel said. “All cities can conduct meetings in their own way,” he said, adding that Florissant was the only city he knew of that provides for a reading of the communications.
Councilwoman Karen McKay told the council that she had gone through council minutes since 2000 and counted how many times there was a request to read correspondence. She herself had requested nine items be read, Councilman Tom Schneider, one, and Councilman John Moran, two. Several former members of council had also requested fewer than ten each. Mayor Robert Lowery had requested 45 pieces of correspondence since 2000, she noted.
“There’s really no evidence of this being abused,” McKay said, “or of this taking up too much time at meetings.”
“I’ve been on the council 18 years,” said Moran, “and there’re never been a problem with e-mails.” Moran said that many residents cannot come to meetings, and suggested that if it became a problem, letters could be limited to three minutes, which is how long people who come to the meeting are allowed to speak.
“We’ve probably spent more time talking about this in the last three weeks than we ever spent in reading emails,” Moran said.
Councilman Mark Schmidt suggested that the bill be changed so that only four council members had to agree to have a bill read. Sullivan agreed, stating no majority should be needed.
Councilman Ben Hernandez said that he saw no reason to change the policy now. “It’s been this way for 28 years,” he said. He also said that it was a privilege not often used by council members. “If we can all be professional in our dealings, it should not be a problem.”
After passing an amendment requiring four members of the council agree to the reading, the council passed the final bill. Schmidt, Lee, Schneider, Sullivan, and Keith Schildroth voted for the bill, with McKay, Moran, Hernandez, and Keith English voted against it.
In other matters , the council held a public hearing about a request to rezone property at 209 rue St. Louis from historic residential zoning to historic business zoning.
The current owner of the property is trying to sell the lot. A potential buyer is proposing a daycare at the site, which is at the corner of St. Louis and St. Ferdinand. The city’s Planning and Zoning Commission (P and Z) recommended denial of the rezoning.
Sullivan, who represents the ward in which the property is located, said that he was against the rezoning. He asked Hessel to talk about the implications of rezoning.
The issue before the council this evening is whether or not you want to rezone the property,” Hessel said, not to discuss the daycare or any plans submitted regarding the daycare.
“It is conceivable that if you approve the rezoning, the daycare may never go in,” Hessel said. He said that the owner of the property could put in any approved use once the property is rezoned commercial. Approved uses in the proposed zoning include most businesses, Hessel said.
“Once you make a change, the zoning is changed forever, unless you downzone,” Hessel cautioned, noting that downzoning is a long and difficult process.
———-In other action, the council:
•Approved a request for a full liquor by the drink license for 555 Howdershell.
•Postponed until July 24 a bill that would amend the zoning code, non-urban zoning, to allow for museums. This matter was brought before the council because the St. Stanislaus museum was considering purchasing property for a new museum site.
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