The Town of Cobleskill is tweaking the public comment portion of its meetings-despite charges that the changes will only open the door to more people who want to make Cobleskill "look bad."
Councilman Ryan McAllister proposed the change, which allows 15 minutes for public comment at the start of every meeting.
Every speaker would get a maximum of five minutes.
Currently, would-be speakers request a spot on the agenda with Supervisor Tom Murray deciding whether or not to grant the request.
Mr. McAllister said the change is really a return to how things were done under previous supervisors and is a way to formalize the process.
"I think that it's important to bring structure...because of what I've witnessed," he said-essentially residents Gary Brady and Joe Kerr being treated as de facto councilmen.
Mr. Brady objected to the changes, claiming that when they were proposed by former councilman Ken Hotopp, the board voted them down.
There was never a vote, Mr. McAllister said, only discussion.
Mr. Brady then asked why speakers would be limited to five minutes when the town essentially gave an open floor to anti-fracking speakers-many of them from other towns.
"This isn't to limit anyone," Mr. McAllister answered. "It's just formalizing the process."
The reality is, he continued, is that the town doesn't have to let anyone speak; he couldn't go to Washington and speak on the floor of Congress because he's not a Congressman.
"But we're closest to the people...You want to allow people to come and talk. It's only right. I just feel it should be more structured and everyone should be treated the same," he said.
Mr. Murray said he doesn't know of a time when anyone wasn't allowed to speak.
"Except the public, when you couldn't stop the anti-frackers," Mr. Brady said, addressing not Mr. Murray, but Mr. McAllister.
Mr. Kerr said only town residents should be allowed to speak.
"What we have is people coming in and making us sound like a bad pace to live and...taxpayers are paying for it," he said.
Mr. McAllister said he's hesitant to limit public comment to residents only.
It would be difficult to enforce, he said, and some issues cross town lines.
Resident Michelle Stacey agreed.
More and more issues, she said, like hydrofracking, involve all of the county, not just one town.
Fracking is one issue that's drawn substantial crowds to town meetings, sometimes forcing regular town business onto the back burner.
As a result, a special meeting was held on fracking.
Monday, Ms. Stacey and her husband, Bruce, Mr. Brady and Mr. Kerr were the only members of the public on hand.