ROCKINGHAM — Residents wishing to address the Richmond County Board of Commissioners during public comment will now have additional time to sign up before meetings after commissioners approved changes to the public comment policy during the July meeting.
Under the revised policy, the deadline to submit a request to speak will move from 5 p.m. on the Friday before the meeting to 5 p.m. on the Monday before the meeting.
The board meets on the first Tuesday of each month.
The public appearance policy was last revised in February 2022, when commissioners amended the policy to allow residents more time to sign up to speak and to address items listed on the current meeting agenda.
Prior to the latest change, the policy — originally adopted in 1997 and last amended in 2011 — required speakers to sign up by 5 p.m. on the Friday before the Tuesday meeting. At that point, the meeting agenda would have only been available online for less than five hours.
While the deadline has been extended, commissioners also discussed the placement of public comment on the meeting agenda.
Commissioner Justin Dawkins said he supported extending the deadline but raised concerns about public comment continuing to take place at the end of meetings.
“I think it’s great that we’re extending the time and allowing people to see the items on the agenda,” said Dawkins. “I think the only thing that we’re missing is the fact that it’s still at the end of the meeting, so if someone’s wanting to speak on something on the agenda, we’re gonna already have voted on that.”
Dawkins asked the board to consider moving public comment toward the beginning of meetings.
Chairman Jeff Smart told Dawkins that the placement of items on the agenda is separate from the public comment policy.
“As the chair, I arrange the agenda. So, I don’t mind taking that into consideration at all,” said Smart.
At the time of publication, the updated policy had not yet been posted on the Board of Commissioners’ website. Clerk Dena Cook noted during the July 14 county commissioner meeting that the county is currently working on updates to its website.