HUNTINGTON BEACH : Council Seeks Ways to Shorten Meetings

The City Council is looking for ways to speed up its meetings after the last three sessions turned into marathon affairs that stretched into the early morning hours.

An outpouring of public comments by residents at the start of the agenda is cited as a reason for the lengthy sessions, one of which lasted until 2:15 a.m.

On Monday, 53 residents spent a total of nearly three hours addressing the council about their concerns. Eighteen of those residents talked about what they said is an increase of rowdiness in the downtown area. Ten more discussed the pros and cons of a smoking ordinance that was approved later in the session. Each speaker was allotted three minutes.

Councilwoman Linda Moulton-Patterson said the late meetings has put a strain on the council “because it’s difficult to make good, quality decisions late at night.”

Moulton-Patterson said she is committed to keeping the public comments at the start of the agenda because of their importance, but suggested that time limits could be imposed on how long groups could speak on an issue.

City Administrator Michael T. Uberuaga said he has no plans to recommend that public comments be pushed back on the agenda.

Uberuaga said possible solutions for quicker meetings include:

* Holding closed sessions in the afternoon so that regular sessions can begin at 6 p.m. instead of 7 p.m.

* Holding meetings more frequently than twice a month.

* Limiting speakers to one or two minutes if there is a large crowd waiting to address the council.

* Adjourning regularly at 11 p.m. and rescheduling left-over business for the next meeting.