WGRZ meeting coverage

(Editor's note: Channel 2 attended last night's city council meeting. Here is the report)

By Andy Paden

WGRZ 

NIAGARA FALLS, N.Y. — The Niagara Falls City Council passed a resolution Wednesday night that will drastically impact the way their meetings run moving forward — and it’s leaving residents feeling silenced.

The resolution, which passed 4-1, limits public comment in various ways, from the amount of time residents can speak from five to now three minutes, to the number of residents who can speak on each topic (three maximum).

It also gives power to the council chairperson to force any resident to sit down or stop speaking if they “verbally attack any organizations, members of government or private organizations.”

The resolution has been spearheaded by chair James Perry after a number of incidents at previous council meetings — and even Wednesday night — in which a number of residents shouted at council members and called them names.

But residents spoke out for an hour, and Wednesday’s meeting needed to take a recess, to further discuss the resolution after an enormous amount of backlash from residents.

“We elect our representatives to serve us, not to shield themselves from criticism or uncomfortable truths,” one resident said. “Yet this resolution does exactly that. Since when did public meetings become a privilege instead of a right?”

“It's sad,” another resident added. “If you take the voice away from the people, we will take your seat away. We will ask you to go. We don't want you here if that's what you're going to do.”

The initial resolution had 13 changes, and the final one that was passed had 12. During the recess, the council made amendments to two changes and removed one — all of which originally limited the number of topics residents would have been allowed to speak on. Now, residents can continue to speak on agenda items and during “For the Good of the Community.”

Some members of the council that spoke with 2 On Your Side opposed the resolution, saying their colleagues need to have thicker skin.

At the end of the day, the change was adopted, so council meetings in the future will look different.