Hainesville adopts rules for civility during meetings

Trustee fines, rules for seeking legal advice and a resident comment time limit will be part of a new push for civility at Hainesville village board meetings.

The procedures, approved by three, 4 to 1 votes Tuesday night, are designed to address months of board infighting.

Mayor Ted Mueller proposed the measures last month, on the advice of the village attorney. The board tabled the matter for committee review.

Mueller said Trustee Wallace Stilz III volunteered to chair the committee that also included trustees Mark Gottsacker and Gary Walkington.

"This committee never met," Mueller said Tuesday. "Therefore, it was assumed that this was acceptable."

Under the changes, trustees amended village code to allow Mueller, with a two-thirds approval from the board, to charge a trustee with disorderly conduct and impose a $100 fine.

Officials also approved two resolutions establishing rules for trustees who seek legal advice from the village attorney and information from staff members.

Mueller said the resolutions do not prohibit anyone from contacting an attorney or a village employee.

When requesting information from village employees, it must be made in writing and given to the mayor, who would have four days to make a decision.

"It is a tool to avoid unnecessary interruptions of staff on a day to day basis," Mueller said.

The board also agreed to limit resident comment during village board meetings to five minutes. The ordinance states the time can be increased by a majority vote of the board.

In the past, Trustee Deborah Bonds said, residents contributed their thoughts to a specific issue, and some may come up several times to discuss the same issue.

"We have never said, unless it got unruly or out of hand, that they have to sit down," Bonds said. "This ordinance does state five minutes. I don't think that the village board will hold anyone specifically to a time of five minutes if they want to speak their piece of mind."

One resident, Georgeann Duberstein, said the five-minute limit is inexcusable.

"We should be able to take time to express our opinion," she said. "They should not have the right to shut us up."

Stilz, who voted against all three proposals, questioned if other villages have created such specific guidelines.

"I am not familiar if other municipalities have resolution such as this, but it does not mean it does not exist," Village Attorney Jeff Jurgens said.

He added it is more common to have a process in place to request legal services. Establishing other procedures may be less common.