On Tuesday night, the Coppell City Council amended the Rules, Times and Procedures for Conducting City Council Meetings motion and designated Nov. 4-8 as Municipal Court Week and November as Arbor Day Celebration Month.
The amending of the Rules, Times and Procedures for Conducting City Council Meetings motion authorizes the mayor to reduce speaker time limits to no less than one minute per speaker, if more than 30 citizens registered for citizen appearance. If 30 speakers or less arrive, there is a three-minute time limit, a change from the previous two minute time limit with two-minute extensions if requested.
Coppell resident Dave Chaffee expressed concerns for one minute limits preventing the ability to convey information.
“One minute is not enough time,” Chaffee said. “I don’t think it should be a priority just to get everybody to speak if they are all going to say the same thing and not have enough time to say anything productive or meaningful.”
Council members discussed the potential effects of speaker time limits.
“In our current rules that we have, we have a 20-minute limit on total citizens’ appearance,” Mayor Pro Tem Kevin Nevels said. “I think this does allow for more people to be able to speak. It is important that our citizens have the right to speak, we should not limit the number of people that we speak to.”
Municipal Court Week celebrates preserving public safety, deterring criminal behavior and protecting quality of life for Coppell residents.
“I know the municipal does great work at the court. We really appreciate it and the way they treat everyone who comes and visits them with dignity and respect,” Mayor Wes Mays said.
The council also recognized Arbor Day Celebration Month to highlight the role of trees in the Coppell community.
“One of the things that I appreciate about Coppell, and I think many of our citizens do, is the greenery we have and the trees, we take those very seriously,” Mays said. “That means a lot to our community, to our citizens and to the look and feel of Coppell.”
