North Perry Village government leaders heard more opposition from a resident who is against the current practice of limiting public comments at Village Council meetings to 3 minutes per person. John Zackey appeared at the Oct. 3 council meeting to continue his fight against the rule. This is a regulation that appears on the printed agenda of North Perry Village Council meetings. The mandate states that all public comments and questions must be directed to the mayor and will be limited to 3 minutes. Then the mayor decides whether he, a council member or village staff will respond to statements or inquiries from the public. Zackey believes that audience members should be given longer to talk about matters that they consider important. Council also is considering legislation that would amend council’s order and rules of business for its meetings, which are listed in the village’s codified ordinances. One of the suggested revisions in that ordinance would be adding the 3-minute time limit for public comments. During the Oct. 3 meeting, Zackey said government leaders shouldn’t have implemented a 3-minute rule for comments at council meetings when there is no such regulation in the community’s codified ordinances. “Who has decided over the last few years of pushing this three-minute rule when there wasn’t one?” he said. “Isn’t the village solicitor supposed to keep you guys in line with this? With rules and ordinances and resolutions? You guys are pushing a rule that’s not even a rule.” Zackey also advocated that a 3-minute limit on individual comments should only be followed if a council meeting draws 20, 30 or more people. Zackey said audiences at the last four council meetings have consisted of between 6 and 8 people each time. “That’s how many people show up here,” he said. “And half of them do comments, at the most.” Village government administrators and legislators sat quietly through Zackey’s remarks on Oct. 3. He had expressed similar opinions at the August and September meetings. The 3-minute maximum has been subject to increased criticism since earlier this year, after Mayor Brian Titus began using a timer to track how long people were speaking. Titus said at the Aug. 1 meeting that he’s simply trying to stay consistent with enforcing the rule. O’Leary said at the same meeting that many local government bodies have a 3-minute rule for public comments. “If you let one person (from the audience) dominate (during the public comments portion of a meeting), it can take all night,” he said. “We keep the 3-minute rule (in North Perry) so it gives everybody an equal opportunity.” The ordinance to amend council’s order and rules of business received a second reading at the Oct. 3 council meeting. That same measure will be scheduled for a third reading at the Nov. 7 council meeting. With a third reading, council will either need to take a final vote on the ordinance, or table the legislation if members feel they need more time to study what is proposed.