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.

Speech Three, Who Else Is Watching

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

When this town installed license plate cameras, I think most residents assumed the information stayed here, with our own police department. I would ask the Board tonight whether that is actually true.

Many of these systems connect local cameras into much larger networks, and agencies far outside this town can search what our cameras collect. The people of this town never voted on that. This Board may not have been told about it clearly either.

So I would ask the Board to find out and to tell the public plainly. Is the data our cameras collect shared beyond this town? With which agencies, and under what agreement? Was that sharing ever presented to this Board and approved in an open meeting, or did it come switched on by default?

And who audits it? If somebody two states away searches for my vehicle tomorrow, does anyone here ever know it happened?

I am not suggesting anyone on this Board acted in bad faith. I think these agreements are written to be easy to sign and hard to read. But this Board is accountable to the people in this room, and if information collected on us in this town is reachable by people we did not elect and cannot question, then residents deserve to be told that out loud.

I ask that this Board obtain the sharing agreement, review it in an open meeting, and make it available to the public.

I have written remarks and I ask that they be entered into tonight's minutes.

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.