What happened: The City Council unanimously passed a new three-minute time limit for all public speakers at council meetings.
What it means: This was defeated in 2015, but was quickly reintroduced. Councilors can allow for longer speeches if necessary. Speakers do have to give their address on a card but it won’t be revealed to the public. Rick Smith, a Carmel resident, spoke out against a time limit. He presented numbers showing that in 2014 there were 53 speakers for 20 meetings for 244 minutes total, or 12 minutes a meeting. He said most meetings were 107.5 minutes long, which means that public comment only took up 11 percent of each meeting. He says that’s not excessive in his opinion.
What’s next: Ordinance is enacted.
What happened: The City Council unanimously decided to change its rules so a member of the City Council can serve on the Carmel Redevelopment Commission.
What it means: The ordinance also says that a president of the Carmel City Council, or a council representative on the CRC or the Carmel Plan Commission can’t serve two terms in a row. After this was passed, it was signed at the meeting so City Councilor Jeff Worrell could be appointed to the CRC.
What’s next: Worrell will serve another term. Current CRC member Dave Bowers was also appointed for another term.
