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Government & Politics

City Council puts off new public comment rules until December

Members split 4-3 over whether to adopt the rules now or wait for staff to define terms like personal attack. The mayor, vice mayor and Aguirre wanted to adopt the package Tuesday.

,   and  Ryan Belmore
6 min read
Alexandria City Council: Pictured top row from left are Councilman Abdel-Rahman Elnoubi, Councilwoman Sandy Marks, Vice Mayor Sarah Bagley, and Councilman Canek Aguirre. Pictured bottom row from left are Councilman John Chapman, Mayor Alyia Gaskins, and Councilwoman Jacinta Greene. (City of Alexandria)

ALEXANDRIA, Va. — City Council voted Tuesday to defer a rewrite of the rules governing how residents speak at its meetings, sending the package back to staff until December after members could not agree on how to define who qualifies to speak longer and what counts as a personal attack.

Councilman Canek Aguirre had moved to adopt the resolution, seconded by Councilman John Taylor Chapman. By the end of nearly an hour of discussion, Aguirre, Mayor Alyia Gaskins and Vice Mayor Sarah Bagley had all said they would rather adopt it Tuesday. The motion to wait carried 4-3, with the three of them opposed.

"This will be deferred until December, and we will take it up at that point with the guidance that has been given," Gaskins said.

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