Souza continuing to try and undo last changes to council's standing rules to return public comment/work sessions.

The Crossville city council meets Thursday evening May 12 and once again, councilman Pete Souza will try to convince other council members to put back public comments and the monthly work session that were removed in the last change of the council's standing rules.  

That last change in the council's standing rules came in March this year and Souza has been attempting to undo those changes ever since trying to give the public more voice at the council meetings. State law does not require the council to allow the public to speak at meetings but citizens do still have the chance to speak for a limited time at the end of the meetings. 

At the April meeting Souza brought up the change and his motion to rescind the previous standing rule changes failed with only two votes in favor from Souza and Mayor James Mayberry.  Souza described the previous action as “an assault on the people's rights to express what they have to say.” 

Contact information of city council members is available on the city's website at this link:  Crossville city council information 

 Souza added that the absence of the workshops encumbers the city in performance of the duties of the elected officials and gives more opportunities for the public to see the inner workings of government as each agenda item is discussed.