Resident Calls on South Windsor Council to Clarify Rules on Public Comment

A resident has called on the South Windsor Town Council to publish its rules concerning public comment.

Don Gonsalves, a fixture and frequent participant at the council’s meetings, said at the regular meeting on Monday that he typically speaks between three and five minutes during public comment.

There are other members of the public, however, who speak much longer than that, something that Gonsalves said was not appropriate.

In addition, Gonsalves said that he has been interrupted while he was speaking.
“There are no ground rules, nobody sets them,” Gonsalves said. “Last time, one of the councilors tried to shut me up, which I did not appreciate. I was within my rights. The public does not know when they can speak.”

Gonsalves also noted that, in one previous meeting, a member of the public was allowed to speak for 45 minutes on a topic. Gonsalves said that, in addition to that resident providing a rambling statement, he denied others, including Gonsalves, an opportunity to speak. Gonsalves said that he had to leave before the resident who spoke for 45 minutes finished.

In addition, through the years, the rules concerning public comment have been inconsistently applied.

"I want to know when I can participate and when I cannot participate," Gonsalves said.

Town Councilor Kevin McCann, who verbally sparred with Gonsalves briefly during the council’s last budget meeting on May 13, said that the issue could be easily rectified by printing the public comment rules on the agendas.

But Mayor Tom Delnicki said that he prefers to err on the side of having members of the public speak at the meeting.

“I will always encourage and permit [the public] to speak,” Delnicki said.