1.1-1 Public Comment Policy

The Chelmsford Public Library Board of Trustees [hereafter: Board of Trustees] recognizes the importance of active public participation at all public meetings, at the discretion of the Chairperson, on items on the official agenda such as public hearings or other published topics where public input is explicitly identified for a given agenda item. All comments from the public should be directed to or through the Chairperson once the speaker is recognized. Once recognized by the Chairperson, all persons addressing the Board of Trustees shall state their name prior to speaking. It is the role of the Chairperson to set time limitations and maintain order during public meetings, as it is important that the Board of Trustees allow themselves enough time to conduct their official town business.  The Board of Trustees must ensure that public comment is not restricted in a manner which would violate the decision of the Supreme Judicial Court in Barron v. Kolenda, 491 Mass. 408 (2023).  In the Barron case, the SJC held that reasonable time, place and manner restrictions may be placed on public comment, but that such restrictions must be “narrowly tailored to serve a significant governmental interest and that they leave open ample alternative channels for communication of the information.”  The SJC further held that a policy requiring public comments to be respectful and courteous violated Article 19 of the Massachusetts Constitution.  The Board of Trustees must ensure that any limitations placed upon public comment are content neutral.

If included on the meeting agenda by the Chairperson, public comment is a time when members of the public can bring matters before the Board of Trustees that are not on the official agenda. Comments should be short and to the point, with the Chairperson ultimately responsible to control the time available to individual speakers. To avoid Open Meeting Law violations, any matter presented under public comment will not be debated or acted upon by the Board of Trustees at the time it is presented.  Such matter may be acted upon by the Board of Trustees later in said public meeting if properly included on the meeting agenda, or at a subsequent public meeting if included on that meeting agenda.

In order to allow a peaceable and orderly meeting, no person may offer comment without permission of the Chairperson, and all persons shall, at the request of the Chairperson, be silent. The Chairperson may require a person to be silent if they are addressing topics that are not germane to a particular agenda item, that exceed the time allotted for comments, or if such person is disrupting the proceedings of a meeting by interfering with the right of others to provide comment.

Approved, Library Board of Trustees, November 2023