{"id":487750,"date":"2026-10-07T06:10:09","date_gmt":"2026-10-07T06:10:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/487750\/"},"modified":"2026-10-07T06:10:09","modified_gmt":"2026-10-07T06:10:09","slug":"despite-raucous-opposition-city-council-will-limit-when-the-public-can-speak-at-meetings-long-beach-post-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/487750\/","title":{"rendered":"Despite raucous opposition, City Council will limit when the public can speak at meetings \u2022 Long Beach Post News"},"content":{"rendered":"

Despite a fusillade of public criticism, the Long Beach City Council on Tuesday passed a more restrictive comment policy that consolidates most public feedback to the start of the weekly council meeting.<\/p>\n

The final vote was 6-3, with Councilmembers Kristina Duggan, Cindy Allen and Megan Kerr dissenting. The vote came after a sometimes raucous two hours of mostly negative comments, shouts and interruptions that prompted several warnings from Mayor Rex Richardson.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Assuming the ordinance passes a procedural vote next Tuesday, public comments will in most cases be condensed in a 90-minute period at the start of the 5 p.m. meeting instead of sprinkled throughout when the particular item is outlined by city staff.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The council members who supported the change said they heard from constituents with children or disabilities or busy schedules that made it hard to comment on items late into the night. \u201cWe\u2019re changing the way we\u2019re doing commenting,\u201d said Councilmember Surely Saro, \u201cwe\u2019re not taking it away.\u201d<\/p>\n

8th District Councilmember Tunua Thrash-Ntuk said she has constituents who work three jobs and can\u2019t come to council meetings and comment when they have no idea when they\u2019d get a chance to speak. She and others remarked on the decorum of this meeting and others. She said she \u201crepeatedly heard from residents who are not comfortable, are afraid to be in the chamber based on the way people are acting\u201d \u2014 before she was drowned out by chants of \u201cvote them out!\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI understand our meetings run long,\u201d said 3rd District Councilmember Kristina Duggan, but she said \u201clistening to constituents is one of our most basic\u201d functions and suggested cutting down ceremonial items at the beginning of the meetings to save time instead. She argued shortening meetings by removing opportunities for people to speak moves council \u201cin the wrong direction.\u201d<\/p>\n

Numerous speakers agreed, sometimes vehemently.<\/p>\n

\"\"A Long Beach resident speaks during public comment about a proposal to limit how public comment works in Long Beach, Tuesday, Oct. 6, 2026. Photo by Thomas R. Cordova.<\/p>\n

Long Beach resident Stuart Galloway quoted California\u2019s Brown Act law that guarantees opportunities for public feedback \u201cbefore or during consideration of the item.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cIt does not say \u201cbefore a whole agenda full of items. \u2026 it cannot get any clearer than that!\u201d<\/p>\n

He added: \u201cI am astounded by the sheer, unmitigated arrogance shown by members of this council and city administration.\u201d<\/p>\n

Under the old system, public comments were spread throughout the meeting, giving people a chance to praise or condemn the city\u2019s plans item by item. Residents could speak on anything they like after the roll call, ceremonies and presentations, again during the consent agenda, on each regular agenda item and once more near the end of the night.<\/p>\n

Under the new rules, nearly all of that would fold into a 90-minute timeframe, which the presiding officer \u2014 Mayor Rex Richardson, unless he\u2019s absent \u2014 could extend in 30-minute increments if people are still waiting. People would have 3 minutes to speak, but that could be trimmed down by the presiding officer if too many are waiting.<\/p>\n

Public hearings \u2014 which cover zoning and land use \u2014 ordinances, certain budget or tax items and appeals, would maintain their own comment periods.<\/p>\n

Former City Council member Rae Gabelich said comments made at the beginning of a meeting, often hours before the agenda item comes up, will dilute the public\u2019s influence on important votes.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"\"A couple wears masks in protest of the ordinance limiting when the public can speak during City Council meetings in Long Beach, Tuesday, Oct. 6, 2026. Photo by Thomas R. Cordova.<\/p>\n

Anyone wanting to address a staff report, contract, resolution or appointment would have to speak at that time, often hours before the council hears the item. Each person could speak only once in the 90 minutes.<\/p>\n

Gabelich, who was a council member from 2004 to 2012, helped lead the opposition, encouraging opponents to fill the chamber.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cYou\u2019re taking away the people\u2019s right to speak in a timely manner,\u201d Gabelich said in an interview before the vote. \u201cThree hours later you\u2019re going to remember what the public said to you while you\u2019re just now listening to staff reports? \u201c<\/p>\n

Said resident Laura Selmer: \u201cWhat if we said you, city staff, you do all your presentation before all the agenda items? You\u2019d think I was crazy.\u201d<\/p>\n

Some speakers veered into profanity and defended their right to hurl insults at the council. Resident Dave Shukla urged opponents to make the council members\u2019 \u201clives hell and their names radioactive.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Karen Reside, a retired president of the seniors advocacy group called the Gray Panthers, was one of several who asked for more decorum and said she trusted the council and supported the resolution. \u201cPart of this process is to listen to each other; I\u2019m not hearing listening,\u201d she said in response to some public commenters.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"\"A group of Long Beach residents turn their backs and gesture at city council members as they protest rules that limit the timing of public comment at Long Beach City Council meetings, Tuesday, Oct. 6, 2026. Photo by Thomas R. Cordova.<\/p>\n

Kyle Patterson of the Carpenter\u2019s Union noted that \u201ca lot of folks are not giving respect,\u201d as he was being shouted down by the audience, prompting another warning from Richardson. \u201cChange is hard,\u201d Patterson said. \u201cA lot of people believe some of this will be beneficial for the city.\u201d<\/p>\n

CSULB student Evan James said a set comment time at the start of a meeting would allow him to participate in a way \u201cthat doesn\u2019t impact my education. \u2026 When it\u2019s pushed late, it can make it difficult to continue our responsibilities.\u201d<\/p>\n

After the vote, the many opponents of the change shouted and yelled, flipping off council members, turning their backs on speakers and prompting police to stand by while council members left the dais before the meeting resumed.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cStay tuned,\u201d said Gabelich as she walked out of the chamber Tuesday. \u201cThere will be a lawsuit.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Despite a fusillade of public criticism, the Long Beach City Council on Tuesday passed a more restrictive comment…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":487751,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[33],"tags":[131,133,132],"class_list":["post-487750","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-long-beach","tag-long-beach","tag-long-beach-headlines","tag-long-beach-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/487750","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=487750"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/487750\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/487751"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=487750"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=487750"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=487750"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}