Just for the record, I have been against all of the recent changes to the public comment period (including delaying televising of the meeting and not televising the public comment).
I admit that the cards have been working really well, much better than I expected — they’re a real convenience for the Board secretary taking the minutes and trying to guess at spellings of names and decipher quickly-spoken addresses, and provide contact information for when the administration wants to get back to someone with a followup. So that’s good. But the rest of it I have not been in favor of.
I was sure that you weren’t for it. Frankly, I think those of you (if more than you) were done a disservice by not being able to tell the public that you weren’t part of the majority (which, of course, is why I FOIAd the information). I think the cards are a good idea–but people could turn them in after they speak and not have to commit to if and when they are going to speak. In Karen’s case last week, she was at her daughter’s softball game. She didn’t know if she’d get there in time to speak or if she’d feel like speaking when she arrived. Thanks, Laura!