Cranbury officials want to get a better handle on their Township Committee meetings by creating guidelines that will include limiting the time speakers can address the governing body.
They intend to have a three-minute per person rule, although that rule is only expected to be in effect when meetings draw a large crowd.
“At the end of the day, it’s really about having guidelines for the amount of time people can speak,” Committeeman Daniel P. Mulligan III said by phone on July 10. “We can grant more time if needed and relax the rules. But that would be especially helpful with large crowds to keep things moving along, as well as just general rules of codes of conduct where people should come up and state their name and address to the committee.”
Mulligan said there should not be cross talk or arguing among audience members or “random speeches.”
The guidelines will be finalized in August and become an addendum to meeting agendas, he said.
“That is the spirit of the rules we’re putting together now,” he said.
Mulligan pushed for guidelines, as officials have seen larger-than-normal attendance at Township Committee meetings this year. A standing-room only crowd packed the meeting room at a meeting in June.
Mulligan said he wants to make it easier for members of the public to participate in meetings.
During the July 9 meeting, officials discussed the possibility of guidelines, with Committeeman Michael J. Ferrante offering some suggestions. He said he thought the three-minute time limit and having a signup sheet for people who want to speak would be useful for meetings that have larger crowds.
“It’s just adjusting to a new norm where people are very engaged and interested in participating in their local government,” Ferrante said by phone on July 10. “I think the last two years, at least since the 2016 election, people have gotten a lot more aware of government at all levels, and so I think people are just very engaged and very connected.”
