Orland Park lays the groundwork for public speaking at meetings

By Jeff Vorva

All was calm at the March 4 Orland Park village board meeting.

And Orland Park officials want to keep it that way.

During a Feb. 5 meeting, there was yelling and chanting from protesters who wanted the board to draw up a resolution requesting a cease fire in Gaza. Mayor Keith Pekau had police clear the board room.

On Feb. 26, protesters returned, and some stated their case and it was done in a calm fashion where Pekau only had to bang his gavel once when there was audible grumbling during Trustee William Healy’s speech about the subject.

To keep future meetings on a professional level, the board voted unanimously to issue an ordinance with rules pertaining to public comment. Some of them were already in the books.

There will be two 30-minute blocks of time dedicated to public comment at regular board meetings and two 15-minute blocks of time for Committee of the Whole meetings.

The first period will be toward the beginning of the meeting and pertain to those who have comments about agenda items. The second period of time will be open to those who want to speak on any topic.

Individuals will still be allowed three minutes to speak. Only one person will be allowed to speak at a time. Board members will not be required to respond to the comments.

Abusive, foul, obscene, threatening or other inappropriate language or conduct won’t be permitted. The mayor has the right to terminate the public comment section if the rules are broken, according to the ordinance.

“We have very little issue with this, but we obviously had a few meetings ago there was a potential issue and there were some things said and yelled after the public comment,” Pekau said. “That’s the kind of stuff we don’t want and we’re just trying to make sure it’s clearly laid out about the behavior that’s expected because this is a business meeting.

“Public participation is welcome, and we obviously invite public participation, but it needs to be professional.”

The new first comment period pertaining to agenda items makes sense, Pekau said.

“I was at two other board meetings, and they had that first,” Pekau said. “It always struck me as odd that people would speak at the end, when our agenda items will already be voted on.”

At the March 4 meeting, only one member of the public who would not provide his full name spoke about some of the history of wars and history pertaining to Palestine.

He also threw in some shots at Pekau and Healy before ending his talk, which garnered some applause.

Neither Pekau nor Healy responded to his comments.