Fort Lauderdale Mayor Dean Trantalis won office last month as “the peoples’ mayor.”
Trantalis joined a newly-elected commission majority that promised they would listen more to residents and less to developers and lobbyists.
If those pledges are true, why did Trantalis and commissioners this week water down the length of time residents can comment at meetings?
Trantalis went along with the elimination of language in a city ordinance guaranteeing speakers three minutes to speak on agenda items.
Under the newly-written law, speakers can be allowed to go on for three minutes. Or they can be cut off at the “discretion” of the mayor.
A mayor can now allow a speaker two minutes. One minute. Maybe 30 seconds.
The excuse for the change:
Eliminating a three-minute rule will cut the length of meetings. Ending long-running meetings was a campaign issue in a city where meetings have run as late as 4 a.m
