Politics & Government
Edison Wants To Cut Public Comment Time. Residents Aren’t Happy
If adopted, residents will have four minutes to address at meetings, with no rebuttal time.
EDISON, NJ – Earlier this week, the council introduced an ordinance that aims to cut public comment time.
Edison wants to give residents four minutes to address the council, instead of the current six minutes.
According to the ordinance, a “person may speak only once” during the allotted time, while eliminating rebuttal time.
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However, not all councilmembers agree with the ordinance. Richard Brescher, Margot Harris and Ajay Patil voted against the introduction of the ordinance.
During the public comment section, residents expressed their objections to the ordinance.
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“I don’t understand what the real reason is for cutting this down. if you’re looking for transparency give the residents as much time as you can to be transparent about their issues,” said resident Tony DePasquale.
Another resident termed the change a “dictatorship.”
“It honestly looks like you are trying to control us. You don’t want to hear what we have to say,” the resident said. “You’re supposed to be working for us.”
Resident and activist Ron Loeffle noted that a similar ordinance was introduced two years ago.
“For a lot of the population of this town, English is not their primary language. They would need more time to come up here and express themselves,” Loeffle said.
He has also started a change.org petition calling on residents to oppose the adoption of the ordinance.
According to the petition, the ordinance “undermines the effectiveness of expressing our views on matters that directly impact us.”
“The impact of this legislation extends beyond just those of us who attend Council meetings. Our taxes fund these meetings, and they may also fund legislation we do not support if we are denied adequate comment time and rebuttals to voice our opposition,” the petition says.
“This is about maintaining our democratic process, a cornerstone of our community in Edison, NJ.”
A public hearing and final vote on the ordinance is scheduled for Sept. 25.
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