Craig City Council Cuts Public Comment to 90 Seconds

Craig City Council cut public comment time to 90 seconds. They did it to keep meetings tidy. Residents think they did it to silence them.

The change happened May 26. Council approved Resolution No. 20 (2026). It rewrites how locals speak at meetings. Now, you can only talk about what’s on the agenda. You can only speak once. You get 90 seconds. No exceptions.

That’s it. No dialogue with staff. No rambling. Just a tight window to state your piece.

City Manager KC Hume says this is progress. He issued a statement June 4. He claims the old rules were messy. He says the new rules make meetings "productive, respectful and focused." He insists nothing stops you from sharing concerns. You just have to be brief. And specific.

It’s not just about time. It’s about scope. Comments on off-agenda items must be written. You can’t just stand up and complain about the pothole on Main Street if it’s not item number four on the docket. You have to write it down. File it. Wait.

City Attorney Heather Cannon says the city hasn’t updated its public comment procedures since 1989. That’s 37 years. The internet didn’t exist then. Smartphones didn’t exist then. The world moved on. Craig didn’t. Cannon says the new resolution creates a "limited public forum." It ensures fairness. It prevents one person from dominating the room for an hour.

But two council members voted no. Luke Tucker. Michelle Gottschall. They saw the trap.

Tucker didn’t want to discourage anyone. He wants more participation, not less. He worried the 90-second limit would make residents feel rushed. That their concerns would be truncated.

Gottschall heard the same fear from the crowd. She worried the council would look like it didn’t want input. That’s a dangerous look for elected officials. You need the people. Even when they’re angry. Even when they’re long-winded.

The short version: The council wants order. The residents want a voice. The compromise is 90 seconds.

It’s a tightrope. Too loose, and meetings drag into the night. Too tight, and you lose the nuance. You lose the anger. You lose the context that makes a 90-second comment actually useful.

Hume says meetings remain open. They do. But the rules of engagement changed. You can’t just show up and speak. You must be prepared. You have to be concise. You have to know the agenda.

Tucker and Gottschall are still watching. They voted against the resolution. They know the perception matters as much as the policy. If locals feel shut out, they won’t come. Or they’ll come and complain about the time limit instead of the issue.

The resolution passed. The clock starts now. 90 seconds. On the record.

Read that again. 90 seconds. For every single issue. If you have three things to say, you have 90 seconds total. Not 90 seconds per point. Total.

It’s efficient. It’s clean. It’s also a lot of pressure for a Tuesday night in Craig.

Hume says it encourages participation. Maybe. Or maybe it just encourages the prepared. The ones who memorized their script. The ones who can count to 90 in their head.

The rest of us are left with a pen. And a written submission.