Sarasota County Commission changes the rules for public comment

SARASOTA (WWSB) - If you want to bring up a problem or concern to the Sarasota County commission, you’ll need to follow some new rules.

County commissioners have now decided that they will only set aside fifteen minutes at the beginning of their meetings to hear from people who want to speak on non agenda items.

Previously, there was no time limit.

After that fifteen minutes is up, the rest of the non-agenda speakers will have to wait until the end of the meeting.

Each person will still have three minutes to voice their concerns.

According to commission chair, Charles Hines, the changes are being made because the meetings were regularly being delayed two to three hours, because of citizens speaking on those non-agenda items.

That was causing delays and cancellations of public hearings already scheduled for the day.

There are no changes for those who want to speak about items that are on the agenda.