Jayna Anderson, left, speaks to the Moultrie City Council Tuesday night about a proposed tax increase. Anderson, a 70-year-old widow, said her income is less than $900 per month, which she said barely covers necessities and leaves nothing for repairs when things need fixing. She asked the council to not add more to her property taxes. Listening on, from left, are City Clerk Ella Fast, and councilmembers Daniel Dunn, Wilma Hadley and Angela Castellow. Not shown are Mayor Bill McIntosh and councilmembers Cecil Barber, Susie Magwood-Thomas and Lisa Clarke Hill.

MOULTRIE, Ga. — The people’s right to speak their minds to government can be considered a good thing:

“Democracy is cumbersome, slow and inefficient, but in due time, the voice of the people will be heard and their latent wisdom will prevail.” — Thomas Carlyle

Or a bad thing:

“The voice of the people has been said to be the voice of God; and, however generally this maxim has been quoted and believed, it is not true to fact. The people are turbulent and changing, they seldom judge or determine right.” — Alexander Hamilton

But in America, it is the right thing. And the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution guarantees that right.

“Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.” — First Amendment

People attend school board, city council and county commission meetings to share what they think with elected officials. Local governments set aside a time to hear from the public. But policies and procedures for public commenting vary widely.

In the SunLight Project coverage area — Valdosta, Dalton, Thomasville, Milledgeville, Tifton and Moultrie, Ga., and Live Oak, Jasper and Mayo, Fla., along with the surrounding counties — government officials give the public a chance to comment at meetings, even if the time is limited, even if it is relegated to the end of the meeting, even if the speech is restricted and even if the public isn’t interested in speaking out.

In Moultrie and Colquitt County, the city council and county commission are generally open for comments during a specific point at the end of the agenda. The Colquitt County Board of Education is somewhat stricter about the process.

“My policy is, if somebody wants to say something, they should get up and say it,” said Moultrie Mayor Bill McIntosh, who is in his 34th year in the position. “My thinking is, if somebody is interested enough to come to the meeting, we should listen to them.”

Meetings generally are not well-attended by the public, and several meetings can pass without someone taking the opportunity unless there is a hot-button issue under consideration. Nevertheless, several people a month usually do ask to be heard, McIntosh said.

For instance, after a recent change in garbage collection from in-ground containers to roll-out cans, one customer on a street corner was somehow neglected. The customer brought it to the council’s attention and it was solved quickly.

“They had a real issue,” McIntosh said. “We looked at it and took care of it. We try to give an answer to everybody that comes up there.”

Other frequent topics brought before the council include holes in the roadway, a situation with a junky, vacant property in the neighborhood and the frequent questions about utility rates.

Residents can also ask ahead of time to be put on the agenda to address the city council about a specified topic.

The city council does not enforce a time limit on comments.

The county commission also allows public comment at the end of the meeting, according to its policies posted at www.ccboc.com, and it has a procedure for citizens to be put on the agenda. Beyond that, it has a procedure where the board may choose to receive public comment as they consider an issue on the agenda.

For example, during discussions about a proposed set of chicken houses for which the board would have to consider zoning variances, the board sought the perspectives of people who lived on the same road before making its decision.

County policy calls for a five-minute limit on a presentation, but a majority vote of the board can waive the limit.

The Colquitt County School Board provides a sign-in sheet for people wishing to make a public comment. Board policy calls for the chairman to call on audience members in the order they have signed in. Speakers are allotted five minutes.

Items concerning school personnel, board members and others that Georgia law allows to be discussed in closed session may be taken to that venue, and the board may require a written request in advance.

The board, which sets policy, said it also respects the chain of command in dealing with some issues.

A parent who has an issue with a teacher would be asked to first take up the matter with the teacher, then the principal and superintendent before bringing it before the board.

The policy also allows the board to call for the removal of audience members who launch personal attacks in meetings or are otherwise unruly. The board typically does not respond to comments but there is no rule or policy stating board members cannot comment.

Some boards elsewhere in the SunLight Project coverage area are stricter about time limits. Lowndes Board of Education and the Lowndes County Commission keep public commenting down to five minutes per individual. Valdosta City Council and the Lowndes County Board of Education allow only three minutes per individual.

Norman Bennett said he sat on the Lowndes County Commission for 20 years, and he never called time on someone during Citizens to be Heard.

Bennett spoke at a May County Commission meeting to request the paving of Hall Webb Road in Hahira, but the five-minute timer ran out on him. Bennett said a time limit can be necessary to keep proceedings going but speaking while a timer counts down can lead to an uncomfortable atmosphere.

Though Bennett said he was able to meet with commissioners later to further discuss his issue, he doesn’t see a problem with making an exception with time occasionally.

According to Lowndes County Clerk Paige Dukes, a resident who needs work done by the county commission would likely get the most out of their time by meeting with a county commissioner, chairman or other county staff during regular business hours rather than attending a County Commission meeting and speaking. Dukes said Citizens to be Heard is a forum that best suits residents wanting to inform the commission and public about upcoming events and such, and the media typically being present at meetings is a benefit for those residents.

The complete opposite of Lowndes County is the Suwannee County, Fla., Board of County Commissioner meetings.

The meetings have no sign-in sheet, but there is a form for people to fill out with their name, address and topic. The form is not required to speak. Residents can speak for three minutes on each agenda item. This time limit is not enforced and rarely used. Whether or not the three-minute time limit is enforced is up to the board chairman. Ricky Gamble, chairman, said he only uses the time limit if there is a crowd of people.

Instead of having the public comments at the beginning or the end of the meeting, Suwannee County has time reserved after each agenda item to hear from the public.

Commissioners opted to let everyone speak on every item before the final vote. At the end of the meeting, there is a public concern or comment section for residents to address additional concerns. Residents have the opportunity to inform the board of other matters.

“We talked about doing it at the beginning of the meeting,” Gamble said. “But to have 20 items on an agenda and have everyone come speak on individual items and not let them have any say during the meeting just seemed too impersonal.”

Gamble said elected officials have an obligation to answer the people’s questions. He said the people are his boss.

“When the boss has some questions for you, you answer,” Gamble said.

For the Tift County Board of Education to hear from residents and also conduct its business in an orderly and efficient manner, it schedules five minutes per meeting for brief public comments.

To make formal presentations before the board, residents are encouraged to make arrangements with the superintendent in advance. Potential speakers are asked to provide the superintendent with a written statement, their name, address and subject of their remarks. The board typically does not respond to comments, but there is no rule or policy stating they cannot.

Comments are limited to three minutes at Thomas County Commission meetings. There is no sign-in sheet for people wanting to make public comments at meetings. Residents addressing the board is a common occurrence at some meetings, particularly if a controversial subject is before the panel.

Ken Hickey, Thomas County Commission chairman, said rules are necessary to give everyone wanting to speak an equal amount of time. He said people have a right to speak but repetition consumes time.

“We ask people not to be repetitive and to stay within three minutes,” Hickey said. “They have a right to be there and a right to be heard.”