Heather Curtis
WMAL.com

LEESBURG (WMAL) – Board of Supervisors meetings in Loudoun County may be getting shorter. In an attempt to speed up their meetings so they can get to action items sooner, the board voted 4-3 this week to limit public comment to 30 minutes.

Supervisor Ralph Buona proposed the change.

“One of my big concerns, and it’s a huge concern is, we’re usually about four hours into our meeting, we start at 5, it’s usually around 9 o’clock when we actually get to the real action items requiring voting, and if we have a lot of speakers that might be 10. It might be 11,” Buona said before the vote.

By that hour, he said board members are cranky, tired and not on their game.

Board member Phyllis Randall said she could not in good conscience vote to limit public comment.

“We’re up here to hear the voice of the public, and I’m not saying that my colleagues do not want to hear the voice of the public. Let me just be real clear about that,” Randall said.

Supervisors often talk in length about action items according to Randall, who added if they want to shorten meetings, they should talk less.

Board member Ron Meyer voted in favor of the change but said he preferred having a session on weekends for public comment where people could talk as long as they like without making board meetings longer.

Copyright 2018 by WMAL.com. All Rights Reserved. (PHOTO: Loudoun Board of Supervisors)