Flock Exposed - Public Comment Speeches For Your Board

Before You Begin, Please Read This

Standing up in a room full of officials is frightening the first time. Almost everyone's voice shakes. Do it anyway, because the right to do it is yours and it is not a favor anyone is granting you.

Nearly every state has an open meetings law, and most of them guarantee members of the public an opportunity to address the governing body at its meetings. Your town then sets the details in its own rules: usually a time limit of three minutes, sometimes five, sometimes a sign-in sheet before the meeting starts. Check your town's website or call the clerk and ask two questions. How long do I get, and do I need to sign up in advance? That is the whole preparation.

A few things worth knowing before you walk in.

The board does not have to answer you. In most places public comment is your opportunity to speak, not a question-and-answer session. That is not them being rude. Expect silence when you finish, and do not let it rattle you.

Because of that, always bring a written copy. Hand it to the clerk and say out loud that you are asking for it to be entered into the minutes of tonight's meeting. Spoken words can vanish from a record. An attached document does not.

Stay calm and stay polite, even if you are furious. The moment you raise your voice, the conversation becomes about your behavior instead of about the cameras. Calm is the most effective thing you can be in that room.

Keep it short. Two and a half minutes of clear speaking beats three minutes of rushing. Read it out loud at home with a clock first.

Pick one of the four speeches below, fill in the blanks, and make it sound like you. If a sentence does not sound like something you would say, change it.

One more thing. Delete this preamble before you print your copy for the clerk. Everything above the first speech is guidance written for you. Keep only the speech you are actually giving, with your own name and town filled in.

The Retention Question

Good evening. My name is [Your Name] and I live at [Your Street or Neighborhood], here in [Your Town].

I want to talk about the license plate reader cameras.

I understand why they were appealing. Nobody wants crime in their town, and when a company tells you a camera will help, that sounds reasonable.

But I would ask the Board to look past the scan itself. The camera reading a plate takes a fraction of a second, and by itself it means very little. What matters is what happens afterward. Every time I drive past that camera, a record is created showing my vehicle, at that location, at that time. I have not been accused of anything. I have not been suspected of anything. And that record is kept.

 Stack up enough of those records and you no longer have a list of license plates. You have a map of where I go, when I go there, and how often. My church. My doctor. My union hall. Whose house I parked in front of overnight. None of that was anybody's business before these cameras went up, and I would argue it still is not.

 So my questions to this Board are simple ones. How long is that data kept on residents who are not suspected of any crime? Where is it stored, and who owns it, this town or the vendor? Who outside this town can search it, and does this Board receive any report showing who has searched it and why?

If the Board knows the answers tonight, I would be glad to hear them. If the Board does not know, I would respectfully suggest that is the problem, and that no contract should be renewed until it does.

I have a written copy of these remarks and I ask that it be entered into the minutes of tonight's meeting.

Thank you for your time.

Private Notes, Do Not Read These Aloud

Keep these at the bottom of your page in case you need them.

If you are told your time has expired:

"Understood. I am submitting the remainder in writing and I ask that it be entered into the minutes as written."

Hand your Speech to the Clerk for entry into the Minutes. Then sit down and do not argue further. That sentence in the room is worth more than an argument.

If you are interrupted mid-sentence:

"I would like to finish my point, and I would ask that the time used by this interruption not count against mine."

Then sit down and do not argue further. That sentence in the room is worth more than an argument.

If you are told your comments are out of order:

"These are factual questions about a suspected contract this Board approved. I am requesting my Speech be entered into the Official Board Minutes as written.."

Hand your Speech to the Clerk for entry into the Minutes. Then sit down and do not argue further. That sentence in the room is worth more than an argument.

If you are told public comment cannot include questions:

"Understood. I will state them as concerns, and I ask for a written response. I am requesting my Speech be entered into the Official Board Minutes as written."

Hand your Speech to the Clerk for entry into the Minutes. Then sit down and do not argue further. That sentence in the room is worth more than an argument.

If your mind goes blank:

"I will let my written comments speak for the rest. I am requesting my Speech be entered into the Official Board Minutes as written."

Hand your Speech to the Clerk for entry into the Minutes. Then sit down. There is no shame in it, You had the Courage to take a stand!

If you are shut down entirely:

"I am stating for the record that I was not permitted to complete my public comment tonight. I am requesting my Speech be entered into the Official Board Minutes as written."

Hand your Speech to the Clerk for entry into the Minutes. Then sit down and do not argue further. That sentence in the room is worth more than an argument.