The Sedalia City Council adopted a new procedure Monday, April 21 concerning public comment at their meetings.

The council voted 7-0, with Jack Robinson absent, to approve the ordinance that now requires residents wishing to address the council during the meeting to sign up in advance and limit their comments to items on the agenda. Interim City Administrator Matthew Wirt says the new rules provide direction on how the council should handle the public comment section of the meeting, termed “Good and Welfare”.

At the previous council meeting April 7, Mayor Andrew Dawson twice admonished residents and city council members who began sparring back-and-forth during public comment. Earlier council meetings also included a candidate for city council holding signs overhead at his seat.

The new ordinance designates the hallway outside the council chamber as a free speech zone, where members of the public are permitted to express their views provided they do not block access to the chamber or cause enough noise to disrupt the meeting. Wirt notes that the public comment section will remain at the end of the meeting, and reminds residents that there are additional ways to address to the council.

The new ordinance was voted on prior to the new council members taking their seats. Lee Schribner was sworn in as the new second ward councilman, succeeding Chris Marshall, while Michelle Franklin assumed the fourth ward seat vacated by Steve Bloess. Fourth ward councilwoman Rhiannon Foster was elected mayor pro tem, while Schribner was appointed the council’s representative to the zoning board of adjustment. Schribner had just stepped down from one of the board’s positions upon his election to the council.